In Strange Waters
by CrossTycoon
Summary: The Nationals are over, and Ooarai is safe from closure for the time being. Then from across the sea, another school asks for a tandem exercise. For the isolated Japanese team, a new window is opened; a window that could change the girls' very perception of the sport.
1. A Letter of Request

Boom! "The flag tank Tiger has been knocked out! Ooarai is victorious!" The judge, Ami Chouno declared over the loudspeakers, and the crowd cheered at the top of their lungs at the impossible feat the girls from a previously unknown school, Ooarai. They emerged victorious against the most widely acclaimed team in Japan, facing in the battle tanks from the humble Pz IIIs to the monstrous Jagdtiger using a motley collection of tanks from the experimental Tiger P to alleged tanks such as the Type 89.

It was a close call though. The Jagdtiger was rendered immobile from a Tiger P just as it almost traversed for a shot at Ooarai's flag tank, the Pz IV, and only the Pz IV and the StuG III survived long enough in the desperate dash to slice Kuromorimine's flag tank out of their formation, the others lying around the battlefield in wrecks of various conditions. The Type 89 in particular, was in a bad way, torn in half from the sheer force of heavy German shells slamming into its feeble hull. The engine compartment, with the tracks and all, flew at least 10 meters away from the front half of the vehicle. The Tiger P had been put under intense fire, its 8.8 cm gun and heavy armour attracting the attention of a lot of Kuromorimine's guns, all trying to knock out this only notable beast out of the fight as soon as possible.

A button was pressed, and the plasma screen that re-enacted the epic battle was turned off. A CD was ejected from and DVD player under the screen. The lights have not been turned on, however, and the room remained dark as a silhouette of someone removed the disk, placed it in its box, and sat on a stool. Behind this person, another person sat on an office chair, contemplating on what was witnessed.

"So, what are your opinions, commander?" said the person on the stool, in an extremely low voice that one would expect more from a more dark, lonely figure. Although the voice itself was quiet, the low speech carried far into any listeners' heads.

"….Interesting, to say the least. Even with their stiff strategy and immoral ways, Black Forest should have been able to take that victory in their sleep with those lineups. Seems as if someone in their side got too arrogant for her own good, and left the team's flag tank completely exposed to catch a few flies. Still, that girl, Miho, knows how to come up with some unexpected tactics," the "commander" replied, in a distinctly female voice in a sure and assertive tone, radiating right to rule.

The male nodded, and responded as he stood, "Do you have anything in mind, commander?"

The commander rested her chin on her hands, deep in thought. "…Send a letter to Ooarai; I think we both could benefit from some practise matches."

"Of course," the male nodded as he opened the door, letting red light to seep into the room. The dim light is enough for a 24-hour wall clock to be visible, hands resting at 23:30.

As the male stepped out of the room, with a slight chuckle, the commander added, "Oh, and be sure not to tell them of our location until they set foot on Canadian soil."

* * *

"That is all for today. Class dismissed," the teacher declared to his students as the final bell of the school day rang, "remember to read chapter 14 on prepositions for next class." The students barely seemed to care about what the teacher was saying at this point; they were busy stuffing their belongings into their bags, or moving over to their friends' tables to chat.

"Ahh, that was one hard class! Right, Miporin?" Saori exclaimed as she approached Miho, Hana in tow. She had a tired face, with her usually well-kept hair in a less organized state, as if she pulled at them in distress for the last 30 minutes.

"Yes it was, but I think we managed to pull through somehow," came the reply from Miho, the transfer student from her family school of Kuromorimine, whose unorthodox methods of conducting tank combat swept aside all before her, sometimes easily, sometimes by a thread all the way to victory in the finals of the Japan National League.

"Why do we have to learn English anyway? And it's such a pain to learn too! I mean, it has so many annoying rules people nitpick at, and the rules have exceptions all the time! It's as if receiving a confession that ends with 'but I can't stand your personality'!" An exasperated pout crept across Saori's face.

"Now, now, Saori-san, the more difficult it is, the more satisfying it is once a skill is mastered. Also, English is a very advantageous language to have some knowledge of," came the scolding from Hana, the elegant, polite, and deadly-accurate gunner of the team. She had a calm presence, as if the long English class by a stuffy teacher was not challenging at all, and understood the subject taught perfectly. "We might one day visit a place where English is the common language, and learning it now could save us from the trouble of not being able to talk to people for directions, at the very least."

"But it's so hard!"

Miho gave a nervous laugh as she watched the scene in front of her unfold, her two friends and crew mates on the Pz IV discussing the merits and pains of grasping English. At least we now have the luxury to think about such things, she thought. The final battle was very close, with no less than five guns having been trained on her tank, the flag tank, as the StuG III and her own Pz IV paralyzed Kuromorimine's flag Tiger, with the former lining up for a rear shot, while the latter locked its gun barrel with the Tiger's, slowing the enemy tank's turret traverse in an effort to buy the tank destroyer valuable time. When the dust settled, her team was victorious, and Ooarai's existence was secured for the next year.

As she wondered what would happen once that year passed, the ding-ding-ding-ding! of the school microphone sounded. The familiar voice of the Public Relations Representative of the school rang out, "Will the student Nishizumi Miho report to the Student Council office as soon as possible. I repeat, will the student Nishizumi Miho report to the student council office immediately."

Saori was the first to react. "What is it this time? Didn't they already force you to take Senshado? Not that I'm not happy you ended up taking the course, but Ooarai is confirmed to remain open for next year! Haven't they put enough weight on you?" She cried out to Miho, the student in question, partly exasperated, partly angry, and partly worried.

"Would you like for us to come with us?' Hana offered, worried about her friend.

"No, it's alright. I'm sure it's nothing…I hope," Miho replied, almost silently adding the last part with an increasingly quivering voice. Her hand started to twitch slightly, and she gripped at it with her other hand.

* * *

"It's nothing pressing, but I wanted your thoughts on this matter, Nishizumi-chan," the Napoleonic Student Council President, Kadotani Anzu, said to Miho as she munched on yet another dried sweet potato. Momo handed her a folded sheet of paper. Nervously, as she was not yet soothed by the president's words, Miho opened up the paper, to reveal a printed letter. It was in two parts, with the original English written above, and the attached Japanese translation in the bottom, ending in an unfamiliar stamp and signature.

"Vimy Ridge Academy?" came the confused voice from Miho after she finished reading the letter. She found the original words to be too much to read at the moment, and the translation provided was decent enough to read without much trouble.

"Apparently it's an academy with a Canadian register. They seem to have a lively Senshado program there, frequently competing with various other schools in North America and Europe. Strangely enough, that was all we could gather; we could not even figure out what ship the academy is mounted on," Yuzu, the Vice President, and the only person who seemed to be eternally swamped in paperwork in the whole council answered in a disappointed tone, as she placed a woefully thin stack of data on this unheard of school, consisting of a single sheet of paper, on the President's desk.

"And they want to have an extended period of exercises together with us?"

"That's what it says, Nishizumi. What is your opinion on this offer?"

Miho closed her eyes and dipped her head in thought. After a short while, she raised her head once again: "I believe any chance for a mock battle with another team would be of great benefit to us. If they are asking for an extended period of practices, I think we should be all the more eager to take this opportunity."

The president grinned, "It's decided then. Yuzu, call up this…Vimy Ridge Academy and tell them we accept."

"Hai!"

* * *

"Ehhhhh, we're heading to Canada for practices?" questioned Saori, doubtful of Miho. As she voiced her doubt, she reached for soy sauce off to the side of the table. Since the tournament, it had become the norm for the crew of the Pz IV to eat dinner together regularly, whether in someone's home, or in a restaurant somewhere on the academy warship.

"Yes, the Vice-President told me that we are heading to Vancouver according to that academy's instructions as we speak. The other person on the line said it was the only port in Canada's west coast that could take a ship as big as the Ooarai," Miho answered the other orange-haired girl, as she lifted a sushi with her chopsticks.

"Then how are they able to maintain their own academies, Nishizumi-dono? One port to service various schools cannot be a good way to take care of all the ships." Yukari, the resident tank fanatic said with curiosity, forgetting to watch where her hand was going and accidentally placing her own eating utensils in a mound of ginger instead of the seafood on her plate. She came into Saori, Hana, and Miho's classroom after Miho already left for the Student Council Office, and after hearing about what had transpired, proceeded to sprint at full speed to the office once she broke free of Saori and Hana's arms, face reddening with fury. She was about to slam the doors open when her commander opened the door with content, if a slight smile was anything to go by.

"Perhaps their academies operate on smaller ships?" Hana offered her explanation, but she did so with an uncertainty rare in her everyday speech.

"Let's not worry too much about that. After all, we will find out just how and why in a few days when we dock in Vancouver." Miho finished.

"By the way, do either Yukari or Miporin know what Senshado is like there? In America?"

"Since Japan, and Asia in general almost never hold international competitions with other parts of the world, except for sometimes Europe, we don't really know. Also, it's North America, not America, Saori-dono. America is a country in the continent of North America."

"What's the difference! They're both countries on the same continent that speak English anyway," Saori said with a pout and a slight gloom, despairing at the prospect of having to actually put her language classes to the test.

Miho stirred, moving to correcting her friend, but decided against it. That could wait until the next day, and they still had a dinner to finish.


	2. Arrival

When Ooarai Academy reached off the southern coast of Vancouver Island for the approach into the harbour in early morning, a series of unpleasant events unfolded. Upon nearing the strait, the Academy warship was intercepted by an actual warship, bristling with weapons, from the Royal Canadian Navy, identifying itself as the HMCS Algonquin. Compared to the academy, both the warship and its weapon seemed pitiful in size, but no one wanted to antagonize a ship designed to sink other ships. Apparently, the presence of a ship as big as Ooarai made everyone nervous or frustrated, since Ooarai was probably too large to maneuver around the various islands into the harbour, and blocked the way of all the commerce vessels trying to enter the port at the same time. The _Algonquin_ was ordered to hold the giant at bay until an acceptable solution could be reached.

After about an hour after the detaining, it was decided that smaller patrol boats conducting various routine missions would ferry the relevant persons into the city, while a barge was to transport the tanks separately. As a result, the Senshado team of Ooarai Girls' Academy had to brave the waters, as many of them got seasick on the tiny boats that rolled and tossed about in the smallest of waves; motions they never felt on the city carrier. More sickbags had been used this day than the last six months on this particular boat. A soldier near the girls tasked with overseeing them until they reached land shook his head, let out a laugh, and muttered something towards them, not expecting, and not particularly caring if what he said was understood.

"Does anyone know what he just said?" Saori inquired, secretly staring at the soldier with a slight tint on her face. She had a feeling what the man just said was not a compliment. She looked towards the floor of the room in the ship and was greeted with the sight of Mako sleeping away on her lap, not even caring about the smell or the nauseating bumps in the trip.

Hana answered calmly, with her usual grace, "I believe he just said 'it's hilarious that girls who spend their entire school career at the sea get seasick so quickly', Saori-san," the rolling motion that brought the entire first year team, the volleyball team, the gamer team, and Sodoko to their knees…or their last meal evidently did not faze her in the least. Another wave crashed onto the craft, throwing the aforementioned crews into the floor, and bringing almost all of the girls to the brink.

Miho was also suffering from the effects of the sea, but not to the extent of some of the others. As she strained to keep her head clear, she tried to think about just what she should do to find a new tank for the volleyball team after they permanently lost the Type 89, and where she could get her hands on a replacement for the less capable M3 Lee and the B1 bis. Their shortcomings certainly had made things dicey in previous matches, and in the memorable battle against Pravda, served virtually no other purpose except to be used as sandbags for the flag tank, the now-dead Type 89.

* * *

When the patrol boat finally moored in the harbour, the girls were only too eager to escape what most of them decided to think of as a death trap, pushing each other off the ramp in a mad dash with their luggage – each had a small suitcase for carrying personal goods - to set foot on the safe and immobile land to the amusement of the sailors. Some collapsed on the firm ground, while others used the moment to stretch out their pains. All save for Mako, who was carried off the boat behind Hana's back barely awake.

Yukari was one of the first to recover from the transit. "That was the first time I experienced such a violent ride! Right, Nishizumi-dono?"

Most agreed with the sentiment, either nodding their heads if they could do so without relapsing into seasickness, or groaning something along the lines of 'I agree'.

"I can certainly see why the average Roman feared the sea, Guderian." Caesar, with the rest of the history club, had now managed to stand up with reasonable stability, in an effort to maintain their dignity as people who adopted soul names from reputed military leaders. [AN: except for Oryou, but who's counting .]

"Seasickness should be against school regulations…" Sodoko's comment was much less zealous than they usually were.

At this time, Mako decided to finally wake up from her slumber, undisturbed by the sea thanks to her unwillingness to wake up in the morning. She swivelled her head side to side while on Hana's back, eyes fluttering as she tried to blink the sleep out of her. She commented in her usual tired, flat, nigh-inaudible voice, "Huh? Did something happen while I was asleep," after she took in the sight and smell, face crunching up from their combined effect.

Three people, one male and two female, who looked to be around 16 to 18 approached the girls as the last of them shook off their ordeal, the boy in front, with the two girls flanked behind him. The boy was clad in a woolen knee-length light grey trench coat and a hat of similar material that resembled a German world war 2-era field cap, while his escorts sported green flight jackets with an insignia consisting of a red maple leaf with a blue background, surrounded by a thick octagonal red outline. What struck the girls most was that the boy was clearly of an Asian descent, with a significantly more yellow face, dark hair, and brown eyes.

All members of the Ooarai Senshado team tried their best to organize themselves, but once the effects of the boat ride completely wore off, the Canadian winter started to attack them. While winters in Vancouver were not as severe as ones in other parts of Canada, it still was punishing for the young girls with nothing but sailor uniforms and short skirts for protection against the elements. Only Erwin and Oryou seemed to be unaffected, but they were wearing their jackets over their uniform as always, shielding them from the worst.

The boy glanced at their uniforms. With a faint nod, he cleared his throat, and addressed the Ooarai team, in Japanese to their utter shock. "You must be the Ooarai Tankery team we requested a period of practises together with. As a representative of the Vimy Ridge Academy, I welcome you to Canada. My name is Lucius Park. I will escort you to our academy from here; please, follow us."

"You can speak Japanese?!" were Saori's first words after Lucius gave his introduction.

"Umm…just how is Canada able to maintain its academies when even its largest port cannot house one?" were Yukari's first words after Lucius gave his introduction.

"…Tankery? What's that," were Mako's first words after Lucius gave his introduction.

"Please, help us out of this cold!" were the words spoken by the freshmen team, huddling onto each other as their bodies trembled.

Erwin scanned Lucius up and down with sharp eyes, admiring his choice of clothing, the field cap in particular.

"How do you do, Lucius-san," was Hana's response to Lucius's introduction.

Lucius, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of words spoken at the same time by the Ooarai Senshado team, raised his hands to his chest level, as if to physically block a wall of questions. "Please, I cannot answer multiple questions at the same time; there will be a time for discussion later. In the meantime," he continued, with a slight chuckle, as he removed a small piece of paper and unfurled it, revealing a printed photograph of Nishizumi Miho from the end of her new school's match against Anzio outside her cupola, "you must be Nishizumi Miho. I must say, we were all impressed by your decisions in every match, before and after the incident."

Miho instantly snapped her head to face Lucius, stunned. He offered his hand, and she took it with numbness in her hand and face. She vaguely registered responding with a simple "yes".

He then turned to the Ooarai Girls' Academy School Council. "And thank you for accepting our offer even though it was on such a hurried *schedule*." He gave a slight nod to them, and Anzu responded with a happy grin.

"Well, we couldn't pass up on such a good offer." Miho, who had overcome her shock, along with the rest of the Student Council, nodded to Anzu's response.

"Well, my commander instructed me to bring all of you to our academy as soon as possible," Lucius continued, until he took a slightly more detailed glance at the sorry state the girls were in, "…but, given the circumstances, a detour to a nearby winter clothing store is in order. Then we can proceed to our transport."

He motioned with his hand to follow, and the Ooarai Senshado club immediately trailed behind him and his escorts, eager to get into warm clothing, regardless of their costs.

* * *

After everyone purchased a coat or hats they decided were sufficient for a Canadian winter, Lucius guided them through the city, taking care not to lose any of his numerous guests in the cityscape, and into an airport, onto the tarmac. Then he stopped in front of a plane.

The plane was pitifully small compared to the commercial jets taxing to and fro the terminals at around 20m long, and was powered by four propeller engines. It was painted in olive with a red stripe down the middle of the fuselage, with an insignia identical to ones sewn into Lucius's escorts' jackets. Also, unlike modern jets, this plane had a thick wing that was placed very high. It seemed rather old, but well-maintained.

Erwin was the first to recognize the plane. "Your school owns a B-24 Liberator?"

"Two, actually. We use them to ferry students from our school to a major airport, then back."

Yukari inquired, "But why do you have such large planes when academies can move under their own power?"

Lucius only gave a short laugh at her question, and finished, "All will be answered once we are in the air. In the meantime, please board the plane. We do want to arrive before dusk."

The interior of this bomber-turned-passenger plane was much like other airliners, with simple passenger seats finished in dark red leather laid out in two rows of two, each row separated by an aisle in the centre. At this point, as everyone started choosing their seats, Lucius's escorts, who had been rather cavalier until now –Yukari thought she heard the words "Momo", "half glasses" and "weird" from them while the two were talking earlier, to Momo's annoyance- entered the cockpit, sat on the pilots' seats, and started to run what seemed like pre-flight checks. As she took her own seat among the many on the plane, Yukari couldn't help but wonder just what the answers to her growing list of questions could be, and just what Nishizumi-dono was getting the school into.

* * *

About two hours into the flight, Yukari could no longer keep her questions within her, and her thoughts spilled out of her mouth almost in a shout as if a shell just left a high-velocity gun, and whoever was in front of her was on the receiving end. "Umm…on what ship is your academy located?" She squirmed in embarrassment, and ended her sudden outburst with "sorry…."

Fortunately for her, Lucius happened to be sitting in the seat in front of her, and he turned back. "Alright, I suppose this is as good a time as any to start explaining some questions all of you probably share," he began, speaking at first to Yukari, but soon moving to address the entire team, "the Vimy Ridge Academy is not a ship. In fact, Canada does not maintain a single Academy warship. Our school, in particular is located in Northern Alberta, east of Highway 35." The entire team's eyes bulged, flabbergasted, and Lucius chuckled in amusement.

"Ehhhh?! Why!" was the general response.

Lucius continued his explanation, "Well, back when the government started looking at the academy warship project, one look at their upkeep cost repelled them from the project as a whole. Instead, someone in the cabinet came up with a 'brilliant' idea: why build a great big ship to isolate a school to foster excellence when the same effect can be achieved much more cheaply by building schools up north, in the middle of nowhere?" he shrugged, "Well, that's what happened, and our academy is well inland, away from any coastline, never mind a ship."

Yukari continued to ask, deciding to get as much information out of this representative as possible before he quietened down again, "What is Senshado like in North America? What are the usual lineups of tanks?" Her tone and volume rose with every word from a sudden spike of enthusiasm whenever tanks were discussed, for which her Nishizumi-dono coined the term "panzer-high".

"Well, one of the biggest differences in Tankery between North America and other leagues is that almost no team uses a heavy tank in any battle. There is much more emphasis in speed and firepower, and armour can be sacrificed if it slows the vehicle down noticeably. Some teams have tinkered with heavy tanks, but those heavies always got destroyed first because they couldn't maneuver as well," Lucius continued, musing on his memory, "In fact, I haven't seen any tank heavier and slower than a Tiger I ever get deployed in any team, professional or academic. Even Tigers themselves are quite rare beasts. Also, the rules for the types of vehicles that can be deployed is simpler, and….more expansive, depending on how people look at them. Basically, anything that is motorized and fully armoured can be used. To sum it all up, Tankery more or less outside of Japan has greater elements of combined arms."

At this, Miho found herself having to join in the conversation. "But wouldn't armour and good gun be able to stand and fight against faster, but lighter tanks? Not using heavier tanks simply because they tend to be slower doesn't seem like a good reason, Lucius-san."

"Let's just say that rule about what can be deployed has led people to using equipment that effectively make heavy tanks useless as a fighting vehicle. Also, because of their speed, the…'mainstream' tanks were often able to charge into point-blank range in numbers, and put shells into vulnerable side and rear armour before the loaders and gunners in the heavy tanks could manage to get enough shells downrange."

Miho asked, once again, "What are the number restrictions like in North America?'

"The rules allow up to 30 vehicles, but 15 to 20 are what you see most often. Also, most matches use a 'Quarter-Rule Flag' battle, in which a team must destroy both the flag tank and 25% of the enemy's numbers to be victorious."

"Why do you use such a confusing rule…?" Mako joined in the conversation as well, inn her usual sleepy and lazy tone.

"Remember when I said most tanks in North America consist of lighter, faster tanks with good guns? Such lineups led to creations of 'sniping' squads, where a squad was formed in a team whose sole purpose was to charge near the enemy and surgically knock out their flag tank in a skirmish before any main fighting began," Lucius gave a sigh, and shook his head in disapproval of such practises of the past. "They made the games very, _very_ boring, and everyone, from the most experienced of tankers to the newest of fans clamoured for a rule change. So, the Association, or the 'NAASA', we call them for short, added in the 'Quarter Rule', which brought back most of the enthusiasm."

Hana was intrigued by the acronym. "What does NAASA stand for, Park-san?"

"It stands for the North America Armored Sports Association."

Saori was about to join in what was becoming a lively conversation, and turned on her seat towards Lucius, but was jerked in that awkward position as the bomber-turned-passenger plane dipped downwards.

"Ahh, it seems like we approaching the airstrip. You might want to fasten your seat belts now. As an extra caution," Lucius advised his guests while he tightened his own belts. He was followed by rest of the girls, who during the discussion had without conscious knowledge, undid their safeties.

As the last of the passengers finished their preparations for landing, the bomber continued its final descent to Vimy Ridge Academy's airstrip.


	3. Guides and First Impressions

The first thing that greeted Miho as she exited the plane was the strong, chilly wind striking at her face and blowing her hair. Thank goodness, she thought, if Lucius-san had not led us through the clothes store, her and her friends would be practically freezing to death in this weather. She looked around the tarmac on which the transport had landed; she could not get a good enough view from the plane since she was in an aisle seat, and the windows themselves had fogged up during the transit.

About 500m slightly left of her, was a complex of grey and white buildings, with windows about half the size of what she was used to seeing in buildings. Two were long, narrow, and extended up to three storeys, two were of wider construction but at only two floors, all of which were connected by a series of covered corridors. The wider buildings were placed in the centre, with the longer ones surrounding the former. In addition, a number of what could only be hangars, from their oval roofs, stood in two lines, a longer one bordering the right side of the entire complex facing a large clearing, and the shorter one lining the runway. An unbroken line of snow-covered trees closed the academy in, as if trying to swallow the school whole, save for a road that led out of the area.

"If you are all freshened up from the flight," Lucius began once he was in front of his crowd of visitors, "please, follow me to the Academy; I will introduce all of you to our Academy Chief Executive."

Anzu, who up until now had been quite unconcerned with Lucius' words, crunched up her face in confusion. "Academy Chief Executive? That just sounds…boring. Don't you have a Student Council?"

"We…did, and still do, but a very disastrous event led to almost all major decisions coming from the president, and the current Chief Executive renamed the position as such some time ago," came the response.

Momo added, "What could they have failed to a degree of such proportions?" In the background, Yuzu said as much, but in a softer, and a more polite tone than Momo.

"…Well, my job is to bring you to our Chief Executive, so I guess I should start doing that." The sudden cutoff startled Ooarai's Student Council, and everyone else who heard the conversation, but shrugged it off, deciding it was unimportant.

Miho took a step forward to follow her friends, but slipped on a patch of ice she did not notice, and fell down with a yelp, her back crashing onto the cold, hard, and rough tarmac.

Or, she would have, had Lucius, who was walking just to the right of her, not moved to aid her. He thrust his left arm under Miho's back and gripped her hand with his right, stopping her fall. In the process, his body ended up quite close to Miho's, their position resembling a frozen frame of a dance sequence. His stoic face that showed no evidence of any particular emotion save for a faint smile he always wore from the moment he first greeted Miho and her friends back in Vancouver. It contrasted heavily with Miho's deep crimson blush and a mouth that opened and closed repeatedly, as if it tried to let loose a protest but could not find the words. Yukari, who was walking slightly behind her, stopped in her step trembling, trying to decide between relief and anger.

"You should be more careful," Lucius said. After putting a blank-minded Miho back on her feet, he stared at the patch of ice she slipped on, he continued, "I will need to speak to whoever was responsible for keeping the runway clear. This could have been a landing aircraft spiralling out of control." He then motioned for the girls to resume following him, and continued to walk to the Academy buildings.

* * *

The interior of this Academy was certainly strange. Both sides of the corridor had classrooms, unlike Ooarai in which one side of the corridor was lined with windows to the outside. Oh well, it certainly helps with keeping the inside warmer, Yukari thought as she held onto her coat tighter, wincing at the brief exposure to the freezing outside weather, wincing at the prospect of having to fight in that weather. It was going to be like the Pravda match, all over again. Though the team should be better prepared for it this time, what with this Vimy Ridge Academy being responsible for most of the provisions.

In contrast to Yukari, to her surprise, Lucius had in fact taken off his coat once he entered the building to reveal a plain light blue button-up shirt and black pants. It was as if this weather did not face him in the least!

As Yukari continued to observe this odd representative with curiosity, she noted a group of three people nearing her school's Senshado club members. They stopped in front of Lucius. The one in the front, a girl, said something short to him, probably a greeting that was replied with a 'thank you', but in a completely passive tone. A second person, a boy this time, also talked, with a slight sneer in his face, responded with something in a slightly annoyed tone this time, by Lucius.

After the group passed behind her, she leaned towards Isuzu-dono, and whispered at her, "Isuzu dono, did you understand what the two of them said to Park-dono?"

Hana replied, "The first person said 'welcome back' to Park-san." She then added, in confusion, "and the second person said something about us being the ape's guests, to which Park-san replied to not call the Chief Executive by that name, especially in the company of guests such as these people."

Ape? That was certainly an unusual insult. For a second, Yukari wondered why the Chief Executive was insulted in that way. Maybe this person was particularly slow-witted, or had an attraction to bananas.

Yukari then noticed Lucius had once again stopped, this time in front of an entrance to a room with rows upon rows of tables and chairs. Smell of roasted food emanated from inside. She looked up, and saw a sign that read, "Cafeteria". Only then did she remember that they did not have a single meal since arriving in Canada.

"You all must be hungry," Lucius began, reflecting what Yukari remembered, and continued to speak as he removed a pocket watch from his shirt. "It's only 6:40 P.M., but for today, we will only have dinner, and then show everyone to their accommodations."

* * *

"That was a good dinner! And the chefs weren't bad to look at either," Saori exclaimed as the girls, having finished their meals, placed their plates and trays in a trolley left in the cafeteria.

"Yes, while the food was not quite what I was used to eating, it was delicious, and quite filling," Hana agreed, wiping her mouth with a tissue from a container from a condiment bar.

Then Mako spoke, in her bored tone, but with a bit of surprise mixed in this time. "Hm? Where did Lucius-san go? He's not here…"

Miho and Yukari scanned the cafeteria, viewing every place where their guide could be at to no avail. Instead, they spotted another boy, wearing a slightly worn-out brown leather jacket and beige winter pants. He was leaning against the wall, flipping a coin back and forth across his fist. Two white cords hung down from his ears. He looked up, and once he realized that the girls were finished with their meals, remove his earphones, placed his coin back into his pocket, and stood up.

He then spoke in English, "My name is Jack. Luke said he had something to do, and told me to bring you girls to your rooms. Follow me. Don't get lost. Oh, and he says sorry for leaving early," as he proceeded to exit the cafeteria, as if he expected them to follow immediately.

Saori puffed her face in discontent. "How rude! He is one boy that I am never going to be interested in!" Miho gave an uncertain laugh at his display, along with Yukari who shook her head in disapproval.

"At least he spoke in words easy enough to understand," Mako commented, "as long as we stay away from him, we'll be fine." She gave a slight glare at where Jack used to stand, showing in her own way her discontent with this Jack.

Their trip to wherever they were to stay during the exercises was wordless. Yukari could clearly see that this Jack was upset with something from his heavy steps and constant mumbling. Her schoolmates were not exactly at their happiest either, after Jack's almost hostile introduction. She felt that if someone made one mistake, everyone's patience would break and everyone would descend to…spirited arguments. Therefore, she was immensely relieved when they arrived at their living quarters-which turned out to be a section of a dormitory fitted with two-bed rooms without incident.

Jack opened his mouth for a second time since he introduced himself to the Ooarai girls. "You will sleep here," He continued, taking out a box and opening it to reveal room keys, "here are your keys. Organize yourselves into roommates, and take the key for the room you want to stay in. I will leave the box here. Good day." He finished his instructions, viciously spitting out the last word as if it hurt him to say it. He placed the box of keys on a table placed in the corridor and left.

Yukari silently hoped this was the last time she and her friends would never have to face that person ever again.

Saori spoke, trying to be understood above the chatter of others deciding on who would stay in the same room with whom. "I'll take a room with Hana. Miho, Yukari, it'll be alright if you two sleep in the same room, right?"

Yukari responded, "then what bout Reizei-dono?"

"I'll be fine with anyone…as long as they don't disturb me in any way while I sleep. But it's still a bit early…"

"But it has been a long day," Hana gently chided, "You should sleep as early as you can if you want to wake up at the right time tomorrow. After all, we are guests here; we don't want to be an inconvenience to Lucius-san and the president."

Mako brushed the criticism aside. "Right, right…see you tomorrow morning then."

* * *

The moment Yukari opened her eyes the next morning, she simply could not restrain herself. She wanted to see just what kind of tanks Vimy Ridge operated, and no one and nothing was going to get stop her in that quest. She washed up in record time, put on her clothing, including her new coat, and rushed outside to the hangars, presumably where the tanks were stored. She blindly tried to slam the gates open, and was disappointed to find out that every hangar gate had a padlock keeping them locked. She could see silhouettes of vehicles with guns sticking out of them from the tiny gaps between each door, so she was clearly in the right spot.

Pausing briefly to think who might hold the keys, she ran back into the dormitories and through its corridors, searching for a 'Lucius Park' on one of the doors. She eventually found it, and started to knock the door so hard she might as well have been slamming it with her fist.

The door slowly opened, Lucius came into view, in all the glory of someone who just woke up. His hair was a mess, his eyes were barely open, and he was clad in a worn-out set of short-sleeved shirt and shorts. He inquired in a quiet, raspy voice in English, "What."

Yukari immediately responded. "Please allow me to see your tanks parked in the hangar!"

Lucius turned his head slowly toward a clock, then back to her. Once again in English he said, "It's not even 6 o'clock yet…I will give a proper tour later today for everyone before the training starts, so can you please let me get my sleep until it is actually time to wake up?"

Only then did Yukari realize just how early in the day it was, and how much of a nuisance she must have been to this poor boy who was rudely awakened by an overenthusiastic girl. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment. "Sorry…" was the only word she could muster.

Despite the situation, Lucius couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, I guess I should be sorry too. Heard just what Jack did yesterday. Should've picked someone else. He can be an absolute bastard when he is told to do something during his spare time."

Although Yukari knew she wasn't exactly an expert in English, but she was fairly certain Lucius, the polite and well-mannered boy who led them from Vancouver to this academy, just swore. She froze, startled, as Lucius closed his door, presumably to catch up on his lost slumber.

* * *

After everyone finished washing up for the morning and had their breakfasts, Lucius, in the same pattern of clothing he wore yesterday, brought everyone, including Vimy Ridge's tankers, to the row of hangars nearer to the Academy complex. In fact, they stopped in front of the same hangar Yukari tried to force open earlier in the morning. While Ooarai's girls stayed with Lucius, Vimy Ridge's tankers spread out to two other hangars and started to unlock them.

Yukari decide this was finally a good time, and asked, "So, what tanks do you use?"

Lucius, who was unlocking the padlock as she asked, answered while opening the gates. "We use…these."

Yukari's eyes bulged in glee. "Cromwell Mk. IVs and Comets! They have such great speed, and Comets have very capable 77mm guns! They are very good tanks...but why do you use them? I expected a Canadian school to use Rams."

"We did use Rams, but they were showing their limits in matches with more capable vehicles, so we decide to replace them some time ago. Likewise, sometime in the future, we plan to upgrade our Cromwells to Mk. VIIs. Not to mention, spare parts for Rams aren't exactly as widely available for repairs. We still have five Ram IIs in storage as reserve tanks, just in case we need them. Pity though, that's one more tank than we would have liked."

Caesar approached the foremost Cromwell, staring at the inscription on its turret. "VI Ferrata? This is supposed to mean the Roman 6th 'ironclad' legion, right? Why did you inscribe names of legions on your tanks?"

"It's just how we decided to identify one tank from the other. The reason why is not really important enough to talk about." He finished, and entered the Commander's cupola of the 'ferrata' tank, to Saori's, and everyone else's shock."

Saori shouted, "You ride a tank? A boy?"

Lucius, from his position in the cupola, answered, "Yes, Why?...Oh right, Tankery is seen as a womanly sport in Japan, is it not?" The girls could do nothing but nod. "I guess I have some more explaining to do after practises. But, such things are for later. Jack should have opened the hangar containing your vehicles; they arrived by truck last night." Lucius exited the tank, "Your tanks should be stored in the leftmost hangar."

At this moment, Miho remembered that they were one tank short. "Lucius-san, do you know if we may be able to burrow a tank not in use from your storage? One of our tanks has been permanently destroyed in our last match…"

"That is a serious problem," Lucius pondered for a moment, "You can use one of the Rams in storage for now. Follow me, I will show you to the vehicle." As he moved out of the hangar, he stopped, and gave a short chuckle. "Remember when I said almost everything that is motorized and is fully armoured is capable of taking part in Tankery in North America? Well, that rule allows the use of some types of vehicles that are not tanks at all…such as artillery." No sooner had he finished his sentence had a trio of armoured halftracks in white winter camouflage mounting a rack of short, wide tubes passed by.

Yukari could not believe what she was seeing. "Panzerwerfer rocket artillery!" Indeed, the halftracks that just passed by were German Heavy Military Tractors, Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper, mounted with Nebelwerfer 42 rocket launchers, a larger version of the infamous SdKfz. 4/1s.

These menacing machines instantly instilled fear into the freshmen team, one of them saying, "Ehhh? We're going to be shot at by rockets now?' The other teams were not exactly confident either.

Miho, wanting to keep their morale from plummeting like they had during the match against Pravda, spoke, "You don't have to worry! Rockets are not accurate, and after they fire, they take a long time to reload for another volley." Lucius, Yukari, and Erwin nodded.

"Well, we still have an extra tank to bring out, and other members of my team seem to be getting exasperated at our delays, so I suggest we do so as quickly as we can."

* * *

After everyone, including the volleyball team, climbed into their tanks, they followed a snow-cleared road into a large clearing. They passed by a sign that read, "Vimy Ridge Academy Training Ground". At a crossroad, tanks of Ooarai and Vimy Ridge separated, each heading to their own starting positions. It took some time, but everyone eventually reached the proper deployment zone.

Miho was giving last minute instructions to her team. "As Lucius-san said while we were moving, this is an annihilation-rule game. We have eight tanks on our side, and Vimy Ridge has twelve tanks. Three of them are the larger Comets, and the others are Cromwells. In addition, they have three rocket artillery pieces. Be careful everyone, their tanks are very fast and mobile; we should try to corner them, and pick them off one by one." All the girls cheered, wishing each other a good victory.

With nothing else to do, Miho started to do a countdown in her mind, eyes closed. About five seconds after she counted down to zero, a fireworks rocket screeched its way into the sky, exploding into a red ball.

She opened her eyes at the signal to begin, and shouted over the radio to everyone, "Panzer Vor!"

* * *

**AN**: this was a bit rushed towards the end from around where Yukari woke up in the morning; I wanted to finish this chapter before the end of Saturday. Hopefully the quality didn't deteriorate too badly. So how am I doing so far? Good? Bad? Any particular opinions?

P.S.: man, each chapter just gets longer and longer ^.^;. Finding a good place to end a chapter without sounding too abrupt is harder than I thought it would be…


	4. Brawl in the Snow

**AN**:The following chapter may or may not be more understandable with the map I used to draw out this battle. It's only a pencil sketch, so it's quite crude. Still, it will hopefully be better than nothing.

the url is: i46. tinypic. com (/) 25kr02v. jpg Just remove the spaces and the brackets

* * *

Once all the vehicles were on the move, Miho looked at the map she had opened on her lap once more. A ridge cut through the middle of the map, with three peaks dividing the ridgeline into four chokepoints, two in the centre and one at the north end where the final peak flattened out enough to cross. The two northern peaks each had a small lake at their bases. The southernmost peak was shaped like a V, and it had a flatter section, but since was still quite steep, she decided not to worry about that small pass-a mountain trail really- too much.

On each side of the ridgeline were a village and a small wooded region. On the left side of the ridge, where her teams started out, the village was near the middle-north pass, with the woods nearer to the southern pass. On the other side where the Vimy Ridge started from, it was the opposite, with the woods next to the middle-northern pass, and the village nearer to the southern one. The approach to the middle-northern pass was also guarded with a splattering of rocks usable as cover on each side of the crossing. There was also had a small dip in the terrain at the northeastern corner.

Having finished analyzing the map, Miho gave a sigh. There was no two ways about it. To win, she had to order her teams to go over the top across the ridge at some point of the match, into Vimy Ridge's awaiting guns as her own tanks were helpless, being unable to fire back at them. She decided there was nothing to be done about that, she shared her plans by radio to everyone. "Vimy Ridge has more, faster tanks than us. So, we will take those advantages away from them. I would like the turtle, hippo, and rabbit teams to take cover in the small forest at the southern area of the field, and set up an ambush to destroy any tanks that might cross the southern ridgeline." Miho paused for a moment, listening to the mentioned teams' enthusiastic replies. She thought she heard the Momo shout 'they shall not pass!'. Miho continued, "The rest of us will make a concave around the northern crossing. Duck team, I would like for you to take the northernmost part of our concave, and periodically check the extreme northern pass for anyone trying to make a crossing by that route."

Azusa, the commander of the M3 asked over the radio, "So, how are we going to deal with their artillery? Even the idea of being struck by a rocket in our tanks is too scary to think about."

Miho gave her reply. "For now, we will have to do our best to stay in cover. Either try your best not to be seen, or stay behind a rock, a building, or the peaks. Since their fire is going to come from the east, any of these should cover us from any barrages.

Erwin somberly added, "At least we won't get torn apart like infantry when they fire…horrible things, multiple rocket launcher batteries. Especially Russian Katyushas."

The tension in the air was thick enough to drive over. Miho, to raise morale, continued, "Well, once their barrage lifts, they will take a long time to reload. We can make a breakthrough, and destroy the battery before they can fire off the next one. Or the first one, if we get around to it fast enough."

"I think I see the pass and the rocks towards the horizon…about, 2km away," Hana, looking through her gunner's scope, noted to Miho.

Miho, looking out of her cupola, could see her destination as well, and pressed her mic to her throat. "We will separate here. Hippo team, Turtle team, and Rabbit team, please head to the woods, and set up a good camouflage before Vimy Ridge arrives. Good luck."

The mentioned teams peeled off the formation, and sped to their ambush points.

* * *

Inside the StuG III, Erwin, who was looking through her sights in case any of Vimy Ridge's pesky fast Cromwells passed through the chokepoint before they arrived at the area, contemplated on her assigned duty. "We are effectively three tank destroyers guarding a narrow pass against an enemy that will charge into our sights. Ideal terrain for us. As long as they are the ones climbing and we are the ones ambushing, their allied armour will be no match for us."

Oryou raised an eyebrow. "the M3 is American, you know."

"…"

Caesar jumped in, sensing her friend's embarrassment from her lack of a reply. "At any rate, we're supposed to be a hidden group that is to protect the rest of the team from a flanking force. A much more mobile force. This plan definitely reminds of the battle of Pharsalus." A smile decorated her face as she finished her sentence.

"This is Anglerfish team, we are approaching the northern crossing. Hippo, Turtle, and Rabbit team, how is the situation over there?" Miho's transmission cut off whatever Erwin was about to say.

Erwin gave the response. "Everything is quiet here for now. But we are dealing with fast tanks, so we expect contact shortly." Strange, she thought; Vimy Ridge's faster Cromwells should have arrived here much quicker than them. If they didn't charge across the ridge so soon, where are they?

A glint of metal caught her eye. It was difficult to see, but she could make out the upper tip of a Cromwell's front turret. Then another one crept over the hill. Then another one. "I see them! Hold your fire until they're completely exposed at the top of the hill.

The Student Council President's voice was heard over the radio, agreeing to Erwin's order.

Unfortunately, Ayumi, the M3's hull gunner, was not as enthusiastic about not shooting at the approaching enemy until they got closer to her, and let loose her weapon. A flash erupted from the hull mounted 75mm gun's muzzle. The round sped towards the hill, and passed over the turret of a Cromwell, grazing its turret roof. The enemy, alerted by the shot, immediately backed off the ridgeline, one tank stopping briefly to take a snap shot in the general area of the muzzle flash before retreating into cover.

Saemonza sighed in exasperation at such a wasted opportunity. Erwin found herself unable to do anything save for the facepalm maneuver.

"Nishizumi-chan, it seems like we were unable to completely ambush them. They all managed to get away. Sorry," Anzu reported to Miho.

* * *

"That's okay. As long as they aren't crossing the ridge, nothing should go wrong too badly," Miho responded, "We are going to form a defensive line at the northern crossing using the rocks as cover. Seems like they are as willing to charge into our guns as much as we are."

As she spoke, a Comet popped its turret out of cover squeezing a shot towards the B1. The shell went too high, and struck a rock. A Cromwell followed suit, attempting to mimic the former.

Unfortunately, the driver of this particular tank stopped a second too slowly. In addition to the turret, its upper hull was in clear site. Hana and Hoshino, the gunner of the Tiger P, both took the chance to shoot, and when the flash dissipated, their target was adorned with a white flag fluttering in the wind, the gun mantle and the hull having been hit.

"Nice hit, Hana-san! And lion team, same to you," Miho congratulated them.

* * *

Yukari was confused. From what she could glean from Nishizumi-dono's communication with the other teams, Vimy Ridge was content in trading shots at the ridge. Sure, they had the number to carry out a battle of attrition, but for the life of her she could not understand why they were bothering with this constant peeking from the hill and not taking advantage of their superior speed and maneuverability by closing in to their own position. It's not like they were hitting anything right now. In fact, because they were the ones cresting the hill, they took the first loss.

"This is Hippo team, we have destroyed one!"

Make that two losses. If this kept up, her school had a fair chance at winning, Which was why she was worried in the first place. Lucius-san seemed to be a capable person, from the way he talked, and seemed like he understood his people well. For such a boy, he was clearly not using his units well. Especially not his rocket artillery. Maybe they lacked a clear shot; maybe the peaks blocked them from taking good aim.

Just then, she heard a sequence of low droning noises. She could have sworn someone was moaning terribly as if a tragedy befell her. Wait, moaning, moaning…! Yukari gasped. Moaning Minnies!

She yelled to her commander as loud as possible, straining to be heard above the gunfire, "Nishizumi-dono, that was the rocket barrage! We need to take cover NOW!"

Miho, and all the crew of the Pz. IV's, save for Mako's, eyes widened. "All teams, hide behind something! Quickly!" Miho ordered over the radio. Even before she finished voicing her command, Mako effortlessly placed her tank behind a rock. Many other tanks did the same.

3…2…1…a long series of deafening blasts, louder than anything anyone from Ooarai heard before up to and including their own tanks' guns, rocked the tanks back and forth and sideways. Yukari especially had to try her hardest to stay on her feet, her job as a loader having deprived her of a proper seat to strap in on.

* * *

Once Miho was sure the last rocket hit the ground, she dared a look out her cupola. The aftermath of a 30-rocket salvo was indeed awe-inspiring. The ground immediately around them was riddled with shell craters, and the sheer volume of snow lifted from the ground caused a snow fog to form, making it impossible to see anything beyond 30m. Her own head was still ringing from the effects, and she was sure everyone else shared the headache.

"This is Lion team, we have been knocked out!"

"This is Goose team, we have been destroyed!"

Shock tore through Miho. As she feared, the two slowest tanks in her team were simply incapable of taking cover in time before the barrage landed. With great alarm in her voice, she asked, "Are you alright?"

"We're fine. Just a bit shook up," came the response from Nakajima, commander of the Tiger P.

"We're okay…those rockets should definitely be against the rules…even more than that IS-2," came the response from Sodoko, commander of the B1.

"OP…Arty is definitely overpowered in any tank match, game or senshado," Nekonya, the commander of the Chi-Nu also responded. Murmurs of agreement from her gaming friends could be heard.

The dust almost settled, and silhouettes could be seen some distance away, accompanied with noises of tank tracks and engines speeding along at maximum power. A second later, when Miho's head completely cleared, she came to a sudden realization, as the shadows became more solid. "They're charging! Everyone, fire! We need to destroy as many of them as possible before they get in amongst our formation!"

The silhouettes took shape, revealing three boxy British tanks charging straight at them. Hana locked onto one of them and let loose without hesitation. Her effort was rewarded with another kill. The Chi-Nu did the same, resulting in another. One tank left. A Comet refrained from joining its allies in the charge, preferring to stay on the hill sniping away at any stationary opponents out of cover. It stopped traversing its turret, and after a split second, fired.

A streak of sparks cut across the Chi-Nu's turret. For a moment, Miho feared she lost another tank. Luckily, it seemed to be a ricochet, the shell having struck the turret's "cheek" at an almost parallel angle. She gave a sigh of relief.

"This is Duck team! Three tanks are charging at us from the north!" came a panicked report from Noriko. A boom echoed through the radio from her end. "We managed to take out one with the longer gun, but we can't hold on that long against two tanks alone!"

What to do? What to do? Cromwell's speed was legendary, and Miho was certain any efforts to run and reposition would only end badly. There was no point in trying to outrun or outmaneuver Cromwells. "Duck team, Anteater team, try to back yourselves into corners! That way, only one of them can shoot at our rear armour at a time."

* * *

"That's a hit confirmed! Good shot, Turtle team!" Erwin exclaimed. In her flank, the Hetzer and her own StuG III were able to bag one kill each, one Cromwell and one Comet, taking easy shots as two tanks foolishly tried to crest the hill into their waiting guns. However, before they were destroyed, they managed to land a lucky hit on the M3's turret, knocking it out. She resumed scanning the ridgeline for more targets. No more seemed to come.

The captain's side seemed to need some help though, if all the desperate radio communication was to be taken into account. After a short thought, Erwin said to Anzu, "President, go help our captain in the northern area. This place seems secure now, and I'm sure we are able to keep any other tanks attempting to cross over at bay.

Anzu responded, "That sounds good. Well, good luck! Yuzu, drive us to Nishizumi-chan's location as soon as possible." With that, the Hetzer moved out of its bush, and sped towards the trouble spot to the north.

Caesar was not as confident about the decision. "Was that wise, peeling off a tank destroyer to reinforce a buckling centre? From what I'm hearing, it sounds like our centre no longer exists as a line, and is in a general melee, something anything without a turret isn't great at." The StuG III's lack of a turret was a sore point for Caesar ever since the Pravda match.

"Well, any reinforcement has got to be better than no reinforcement," Erwin replied, taking her eyes off the cupola momentarily to face her friend for a short discussion, "and besides, we're just sitting here doing nothing as long as no other tanks try to come across. Keeping two vehicles doing nothing is even worse."

"I guess."

With that, Erwin once again brought her head up to the cupola, concentrating on the ridgeline. Something moved in the corner of her right eye. Something quite loud, judging from how its roaring noise could be heard over the sound of their own engine at idle. She swiveled her head, and was shocked by what she saw.

Two more of those boxy Cromwells revealed themselves, but from a totally unanticipated position: the mountain itself. Erwin tried to think just how those tanks could have climbed the hill, but discarded that train of thought. It wasn't the time; she needed to direct her crew to this impending threat. With a slight panic, she ordered, "Turn us to the right, quick! We got two tanks coming straight for us from the flank!"

The StuG III tried to bring its gun to bear on the enemy tanks as soon as possible, but it was no use. The two Cromwells split to its left and right, and one took a brief stop while the other continued its flanking maneuver. "Target the stationary tank first!" Erwin commanded.

"Almost there, seven more degrees to the right…" Saemonza declared. Then, with a terrible boom and the sound of tearing metal, their tank destroyer stopped turning. Her finger twitched in surprise and loosed her own shell, missing her target by about a meter.

"One of our tracks seems to have been blown off," Oryou reported, in a careless tone that belied the desperate situation. Another boom. "Make that both of our tracks." Erwin could only look on as the flanking Cromwell, aided by its ally which rendered their vehicle immobile, completed its circling, traversed its turret, and with a with a bright flash and bang, put a shell into the StuG III's vulnerable rear.

Their white flag popped out. Erwin squeezed her mic to her throat and, in a hopeless voice, reported, "This is Hippo team…we have been knocked out." The two attackers already moved on, visible in the distance, heading to the northern crossing where they would no doubt turn a bad situation into an impossible one for the other teams.

* * *

"Hippo team? Knocked out?" Anzu absentmindedly asked, to no one in particular.

"What should we do, president? Continue north, or try to hold whoever destroyed the Hippo team here?" Momo inquired.

Anzu closed her eyes and dipped her head in thought. After what seemed like an eternity, she gave her answer. "Hold them off here. We can't have these people join the battle up north."

"Okay, that little dip in the ground seems like a good place to ambush them from. I'll place us there."

No sooner had Yuzu said that, a gun barked from somewhere behind them, and their Hetzer violently lurched back and forth from the shockwave of a 75mm shell planting itself firmly into the engine compartment. Anzu just barely managed to keep herself from being thrown out of her seat, and heard the hiss of their white flag being released.

* * *

Everyone, including Saori, would see their situation was nothing short of grim. Within the space of less than two minutes, five tanks, almost three quarters of their entire force, had been reduced to wrecks. How Vimy Ridge managed to exact such a toll in such a short time was a mystery. Nevertheless, Miho continued to assign orders to her crew. "Hana-san, shoot at any tanks that you can; you don't need to wait for my orders to fire. Reizei san, please keep making unpredictable turns, and try to angle our front armour at anyone who seems to be about to shoot at us. That will maximise our armour…hopefully it will buy us some time. Saori-san, please relay everything I said to all the surviving teams."

A series of "I understand," "Got it,", and "Okay" answered her. A short distance away, Duck team managed to destroy another tank. Quite a feat, considering this was the first time they were working with the loaned Ram II. However, Vimy Ridge's last Comet took advantage of their brief halt, and put its own 77mm shell into the Ram.

"This is Duck team, we have been destroyed! We apologise for not being able to do more!"

"Is everyone alright?" Miho asked, her concerns on the team's wellbeing bubbling to the surface.

"Everyone's safe, captain!" came the response. At the same time, Hana picked out and destroyed the Comet that had destroyed the Ram. The Anteater team also lined up for a shot at a stationary tank; from what Miho could see, they attempted to shoot at its lower plate, but lacking the training for such precise shots, missed.

Their target, responding in kind, did not.

Now alone, Anglerfish team found itself under fire from all sides. Vimy Ridge only had four tanks remaining, but that was still three more than what Miho had to work with. It was a testament to Mako's skill that the pz. IV either avoided or bounced all the incoming shells.

Then, Vimy Ridge's tanks stopped their relentless fire in unison, filling everyone's ears with a deafening silence. Miho wondered why they stopped firing. She found her question answered in the form of two Cromwells charging at her own tank from two sides, clearly intent on ramming it. They had stopped shooting only to not inflict any friendly fire. Whoever was commanding them must have become _very_ frustrated by Mako's driving. Miho's mind froze for a second, overcome with terror. She had seen pictures of car crashes, and she was sure tank crashes were as bad as, if not worse than those. In this moment of indecision, she was unable to warn her friends of Ooarai's last surviving tank was helplessly rammed, then fired upon at point-blank range.

The radio crackled to life once more, transmitting Lucius' voice. He addressed the girls, in Japanese once again. "Well, that is the end of the match. Thank you for the good battle." He was echoed by more voices, other tankers of Vimy Ridge presumably, shouting, "Good game!"

* * *

**AN**: So, how was it? Good? Bad? Needs work? I kind of want to get reviews so I know how I stand in terms of my quality of writing.


	5. Post-battle

Miho once again, with the commanders of each of her teams and Yukari, found herself being led through the corridors by Lucius. Once all the tanks have been put away in garages to be fixed inside-a blizzard was starting to brew up- Lucius's phone rang, and after a short…response, really, consisting of a "Yes, ma'am" by Lucius to whoever was calling him, he relayed what he was told to her and her friends; "The Executive wishes to see you."

They stopped in front of a dark wooden door, a luxury compared to the solid metal and glass fire doors of most rooms, and knocked. On it was some sort of a bronze handle, and a plaque above the handle written, "Academy Chief Executive". He grabbed the handle and knocked at the door with it twice.

"Enter," a cold feminine voice answered in English. Miho shuddered; it reminded her of her former tormentor Erika the way it made her hair on her neck stand on its ends, differing only in this voice's apparent lack of malice. Nevertheless, she stepped through the door like everyone else.

* * *

This room was clearly meant to awe, especially compared to the rest of the complex. It wasn't large, but luxurious furnished with expensive-looking wooden and leather furniture. "Please, sit," ordered the girl. Lucius had already, during Miho's captivation with the room, unfurled some folding stools; they had a backrest, but the small seat and the rest clearly showed this was a stool, not a proper chair. In fact, the only proper seat in the entire room seemed to be the plush office chair that a girl in light brown formal wear was sitting on.

Once everyone was seated save for Lucius, who stood behind the girl, the girl behind the desk started, "With a day already having passed since your arrival, this is quite belated, but welcome to Vimy Ridge Academy. My name is Mary Hillson, and I am the student leader of the academy, serving as the Academy Chief Executive. On behalf of the Academy, I thank your accepting of the invitation."

"It was a difficult choice, but in the end we decided that we could not pass up on such a generous offer." Momo maintained her indifferent face, unfazed by Mary's dominating presence, even sneaking in a tone of defiance. Miho supposed Momo's own personality clashed with Mary's presence. Yukari thought she almost saw a one or two sparks flash between the two.

"Besides, an academy crossing an Ocean just to do some practise matches in Senshado is completely unheard of; gaining a little publicity can't hurt…considering our situation, "Anzu added with a grin. Her boisterous voice however muted to an almost inaudible level as she finished. Mary raised an eyebrow, but did not press the issue.

Instead she asked, "So, did you have any problems entering Canada? Coming to the academy? Our location must have been a surprise, coming from Japan."

"We did have a little problem with a warship when our academy was trying to enter Vancouver harbour, but there wasn't anything serious." Miho downplayed the encounter with the Canadian warship; she was afraid anything that could potentially step on anyone's toes would insult this girl, no, woman. "And yes, it was surprising to learn your academy was land-bound, but it was a learning experience. One of my friends, who likes to shop, was ecstatic about the idea." Indeed, Saori was almost jumping up and down with excitement that her wish was fulfilled; that she was going to a school that was on land, like the old days, up until the point she learned that the academy was cut off from almost all civilization, including shopping malls, save for a highway.

Mary's corner of her mouth rose in one of the smallest smirk Miho had ever seen. "I saw the battle from here. Quite the fight you gave to our team over there…what did you think of the team's performance? I have to say, Euphrates did especially well, covering that much ground so quickly, considering they had to fight through well-concealed tank destroyers."

"I was certainly surprised by how coordinated all the tanks were, even though they were spread out in three positions. How was it possible to track all the movements and give orders to every tank at the same time?" Miho was curious what exactly "Euphrates" was, but she didn't pry.

Mary turned her face to Lucius, who up until this point had been translating all the conversations as best as he could, as quickly as he could. He stepped forward to reply. "The short answer is, I do not."

Miho was puzzled, as was everyone else except Mary. "Then how do everyone know what to do, if you don't tell them?"

"Hmm….to give a proper answer, I guess I should tell you how this academy's Tankery team is organized. Our 20 tanks are organized in a decentralized fashion, into five "troops" of four tanks-three Cromwells and one Comet- each, named Rhine, Danube, Euphrates, Africa, and Britannia." Caesar's ears perked up at Lucius; mentioning of the five main defense lines of the Roman Empire. But before she could open her mouth Lucius continued, "Each troop has a leader, and one of those leaders commands the entire force. As that commander, I merely give general instructions on what a troop should do. Troop commanders take those general orders and tell each tank in their troops to what to accomplish. I do the same with the troop directly under my control. Each tank commander then works to fulfill that order as best as they can."

Miho was definitely fascinated by how this system worked. "How do your tanks talk back to you, then? Does everyone report what they see to you?

"Oh, no. Status reports flow the other way around; each troop commander filters all the information so only information that I need to make team-wide decisions are sent. The last thing I need as the team's commander is being swamped with needless information; for example, why would I need to know an enemy tank is moving in and out of cover taking snap shots, when all I need to know is that the enemy is defending that position? Having said that, if someone sees something critical, such as a major enemy force hiding ambushing a troop, and the troop commander is too busy, they may report directly to me. We call this system the Downstream System, or DSS."

Miho could see the benefit of this way of communication. She certainly had times when she felt there was too much information to process in a split second. But she could see ways it could pose problems. What if something seen as trivial was overlooked by a troop commander turned out to be vital information needing the team commander's attention until it was too late? What if a troop commander was not trusted enough to make good decisions?

Yukari was also intrigued by Vimy Ridge's system. Is sounded very efficient, since smaller tasks were farmed out to troop commanders to take care of, leaving Lucius free to tackle with bigger tasks without having to waste time giving specific orders to every tank. Not only that, having set numbers per unit made determining who was where and who should be where easier. But this system required people skilled at tactics and recognizing important information at all levels of command, and those skills were not easy to train into everyone's minds, especially if the skills are meant to be used in the heat of battle. It also needed disciplined people who were willing to follow the chain of orders and not broadcast every little data they come upon to the commander.

Yukari tried to imagine how this troop system might work out for Ooarai. The Hetzer and the StuG III, and maybe even the M3 could be grouped into a tank destroyer group. Other than that, she found herself unable to match all the tanks into groups of similar types; Ooarai's Senshado team was simply made up of too much of a motley collection of whatever was available. Not a single battle group would have a uniform capability within itself. Perhaps this was why Vimy Ridge's, and maybe Saunders' forces were made up of more or less the same tanks. Less types of tanks were easier to control.

Yukari briefly wondered if Saunders worked along similar lines, but dismissed the idea. Her intelligence gathering operations showed that their leader, Kay, was a bit too cavalier to use such precise clockwork of management anyway. Maybe Black Forest? They were certainly obsessed enough with victory to be dabble with such an efficient method of command and control.

Yukari's thoughts were interrupted by a chuckle from Lucius. "Ah, I have seem to have forgotten your friend…Saori's surprise at boys taking part in Tankery." He shook his head as he continued to smile. The Student Council President – Yukari was not yet used to the term Academy Chief Executive", and she guessed she never will be – raised her eyebrow once again, and spoke.

"Ahh, right. You come from Japan. In most places, Tankery has been a mixed-gender sports ever since the end of the Second World War. The massive casualty rate of the armed force of every nation in every branch, including tank forces, led to the idea that any_body_ was needed. Males were perfectly fine, since they were as capable of physically operating tanks. Besides, the whole reason for prohibiting men from taking part in Tankery – to prevent world wars – was moot by that point. After the war, the attitude remained, and the area naturally opened up to them. Only Asia, and Japan in particular really clung onto the notion that 'tanks are womanly'. My guess is since the Japanese tank force never had the same demand for crews as the massive tank units in Europe, it could afford to maintain its attitude and still get enough people to enlist. Koreans abandoned that idea quite quickly as well after the Korean War, for the military at least, since they share a border with an enemy.

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the office. Yukari, and just about everyone from Ooarai was unnerved. According to this Student Council President's words, Tankery was not just a noble sport. It reminded them the tanks they were riding had at one point had been killing machines made for wars of total devastation.

Lucius spoke, breaking the dead silence. "Well, now that some explanations have been made, we must go about making a training schedule. We usually practise during the afternoon after all our classes finish. We would appreciate if you participated in them with us."

* * *

And so they did. The Ooarai students, to their mixed feelings, found the training to be the most grueling they had in a while, almost like back in the first day of their school's resurrected team when one would have been considered an export to know how to start the tanks. Now, with the…"officers", as the history club avidly called the Vimy Ridge crews and especially their troop commanders who issued training instructions either by radio or by claiming a seat in already cramped vehicles –though many Ooarai tanks were undercrewed and could hold one more person –teaching them how Vimy Ridge conducted their battles. Some of their training, although making sense, went directly against a human's instincts.

"Do NOT ever! Fire on the move! You're better off putting guns at maximum elevation and hoping they fall down on top of the enemy a 100m away. Save the shell for a better moment" To that end, everyone was drilled to the ground on decreasing the length of time of brief halts to make accurate shots as short as possible. The only exceptions were the Turtle and Hippo teams, who as tank destroyers were expected to stay away from anything that was not an ambush, but even they had to become familiar with this skill, albeit on less Spartan standards.

"Maintain formations until ordered otherwise! Doing so without order will only cause chaos in the ranks once under fire that will easily cause mass panic and rout!"

"Those machine guns aren't toys, they can be used even for armored battles. If you think there's something hidden somewhere, shoot a few bursts and see if any sparks fly off. Sound of metal bouncing off the hull also tends to put people on edge, even if they know they can't hurt them."

Many of the training involved pre-determined maneuvers to be executed on order. While some were defensive, such as the "fighting retreat", in which a group of tanks leapfrogged backwards, with the tanks to the rear providing cover, but most were undoubtedly aggressive. "fire and advance" – the exact opposite of the fighting retreat – "flank speed", and "swarm", in which they charged in an unpredictable pattern, swerving all the time to avoid fire, were always the most practised, and all the girls could see the Vimy Ridge performing them with uncanny precision while maintaining the troops' cohesion.

In turn, every one of Vimy Ridge's tankers, up to and including Lucius –apparently Mary was not part of the team – were impressed by the unconventional ingenuity of Miho and a few other Ooarai girls, and the team's ability to absorb training. Ooarai was able to pick up skills and tactics devised by Vimy Ridge within a week of intense training, where Vimy Ridge itself had taken a month to master, and sometimes modify them into superior forms or forms better fitted to Ooarai's situation.

* * *

Returning to the hangars after a particular practise session, Yukari found herself riding in the Pz. IV with only Lucius himself as the other passenger, and every time she remembered that, Yukari's face flushed just a shade redder. She didn't mean to be alone with him in a tank, of course. The day's slated training involved gunner-loader cooperation for maximum rate of accurate fire while stationary. Naturally Hana would have joined her, but for a cold she caught. It was nothing serious, but enough to keep her from the main gun's controls. Lucius had mentioned something about a cold-infected gunner, a loaded main gun, and a house, and decided he would accompany her to the exercise as the substitute gunner.

Now he was driving the tank back, and Yukari felt she had to say something to break the silence, her anxiety of the situation and the gravity of the silence clamping down on her compelled her to do so.

It turned out she didn't need to: Lucius did the work for her. "So, what do you think of my team so far?"

"I like the tactics and the people. Most of them."

Lucius gave a soft chuckle. "It seems like you learned more than just Tankery while staying with us." Yukari raised an eyebrow, and raised the other one in surprise a moment later. Lucius spoke to her in English, and she replied in the same language without realizing it. Simple sentences, but spoken without pause and active effort. While it filled her mind with pride at her new knowledge, it also filled her with more red in her face.

"Everything is so organized. You can probably take on two of the stronger teams we fought and become a victor because of how your system work. Who came up with it?" Yukari winced a bit as she said those words; quite clunky compared to what she heard the Canadians say, but at least she was getting somewhere.

"Someone who used to lead us. He's now at the Royal Military College. In fact, he's the one who pretty much wrote the book on how we fight." Lucius' eyes drifted somewhere as he said so, reflecting on pleasant memories. "Good times. He made us what we are, and gave all us juniors the same attention as the main team. 'No point in us winning if we don't train up the juniors to carry the record' he used to say."

"He sounds like he would be welcomed into Black Forest Peak Academy, maybe even the Nishizumi House." Yukari mused. This man who planted the seeds of the current Vimy Ridge certainly would have that privilege if he was really responsible for everything Lucius said he was responsible for. Maybe even-

Her train of thought was mercilessly thrown out the window as the Pz. IV screeched to a halt on the icy road. Her body almost followed suit, and her head barely missed the turret wall. She moved to ask Lucius what happened, but her question died in her throat one she saw him.

His face was that of a tightly controlled anger, with tight, thin lips, bulging eyes, and a lack of breathing. His hands were gripping the controls so hard the controls might as well have been fused to his hands. His foot was firmly crushing the brake pedal. A single tortured sentence escaped his mouth. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?"

* * *

**AN**: That was waaay to many "commander"s .


	6. Confusions

Yukari was confused. What has she said wrong? The Nishizumi House, and Black Forest was widely acclaimed as one of the most effective Senshado teams in Asia, if not a bit prone to taking less than moral actions as demanded by their code of conduct enforced by their more senior members. To be accepted into their academy and team was considered a great honour as far as she knew. But Lucius-san here was seething at the very prospect of his senpai being part of the Black Forest Peak Academy. Did she touch a nerve? His mouth was repeatedly opening and closing, as if trying to find the right words and failing. After one of the longest minute that ever passed, Lucius-san simply said, "Let's just say we find their morals absolutely _despicable_," and eased on the brakes, once again driving the two of the back to the hangars.

* * *

To Yukari's surprise, everyone else had already arrived and parked their vehicles in their appropriate hangars. Nishizumi-dono and Takebe-san ran towards their tank as soon as it stopped moving, with Reizei-san following the two in a steady step. Apparently she had taken longer than expected to return. Much longer.

In the end, Yukari had to endure barrages of concerned questions as she repeatedly assured them that no, the two of them were never in any particular danger; no, they never got lost; and yes, they did have a watch with them, just that neither Lucius nor she ever thought of actually checking the time. Even after all those assurances, Nishizumi-dono could not hide a look of concern for her wellbeing. It was both heartening and shameful to see; Yukari felt happy that Nishizumi-dono cared that much about her, but she felt ashamed that she made her commander worried for no good reason. Off to her side, Takebe-san stood, her face a cross between curiosity and mischief, the latter of which Yukari had grown to fear for some strange reason. Perhaps because that expression only ever appeared when Takebe-san had spotted a particularly charming boy to go after.

"So Yukarin," Saori started, "if you weren't in any trouble, why did you two take so long to return?"

"As I said earlier, we lost track of time while-"

"So why did you lose track of the time in the first place? Was there someone going on between the two of you? Something…you didn't want the rest of us to know?"

It took a moment for Yukari to process what was just said. When she did, she felt her face boil up. She could imagine her face turning into a lamp, and any reminder of that pumped new heat through her.

"O, of course not! I, I, I cou-could never…" Her voice shrunk and shrunk so much by the time she managed to get "never" out, it was more accurate to say her lips were making odd shapes rather than to say she was talking.

A more solid response came from Lucius, who chose this moment to fade into the conversation. "Nothing particularly eventful happened in transit. I just drove slower than the rest because I didn't want the panzer slipping in the snow. Now, if you will excuse me, I think I will sign off and give myself some well-deserved rest. Oh, and please send my regards to Ms. Isuzu; colds _are_ a nasty thing to catch."

Saori pouted in disappointment. "I hoped someone among us was able to get a boyfriend here, even if it wasn't me…" Miho sighed in disbelief.

Yukari could slowly feel her face cooling down. Good thing Lucius-san explained what happened so clearly or she would have faced quite the misunderstanding. I mean, he was a good person; he never antagonized anyone. But to think of him like…_that_?

* * *

Yukari continued to observe how Vimy Ridge Academy trained. Her friends often joined her, but found other things to do after a while of watching, leaving Yukari to spend as much time on her passion of Senshado as she wished. She watched them doing their usual combat and communication training, in combination to a few others. She also, with Lucius-san's permission, delved into the club's archives and watched the records of their more recent matches with as much enthusiasm as if she was watching a gripping movie. Actually, for her, it _was_ a gripping movie. She saw over and over again Vimy Ridge using various tactics to bring down a storm of mass confusion into the enemy, and tore them to pieces at knife-fighting range in a big mess of brawls while they were trying to reorganize themselves into half-decent positions. Superior decentralized and individual leadership allowed this; when the enemy was trying to hold them off just long enough to receive new orders in hopes that that would change everything for the better, each individual tank of Vimy Ridge used their own judgement with confidence to make good movements and good kills. A…"pell-mell battle", Lucius-san once said.

She also saw how all the schools in North America (not America, as Lucius-san, and pretty much everyone else in the school vehemently corrected every time one of her schoolmates tried to shorten the name that way) built their lineups of vehicles. Almost every one of them was built around a solid group of medium tanks. From there, all the differences sprouted up. Some, like Vimy Ridge, attached some artillery for fire support. Others brought a group of light tanks for scouting and harassment of the enemy into making foolish moves. Yet others brought a handful of heavy tanks –Yukari was honestly surprised by this, after having been exposed to North America's school of thought for some time- to anchor an offence or defence, or tank destroyers to bring bigger tank-killing guns in smaller bodies.

She even saw one or two deploy ground-attack aircraft such as…Typhoons, IL-2s, and a B-25J. But when a team deployed aircraft, it seemed they were never allowed to bring more than two of them because of a quirk in their rules. Also, no one ever deployed dedicated fighters to counter them. Perhaps no one was too worried about them? After all, almost none of the attacks ever managed to hit something vital to a tank's well-being. They did, however, instill panic to the crews of the tank that was being shot at. Most simply ditched their vehicle, or surrendered by voluntarily raising the white flag, with the more stalwart of crews remaining calm, and escaping largely unscathed. But since quite a few people were so terrified, she discounted that theory. Another rule, perhaps?

Now that Yukari thought about it, North American tactics really seemed to revolve around causing mass panic and routs, at which point they could be hunted down with little danger to the attackers. Only the means to instill panic really differed; tank shocks, air attacks, artillery and rocket barrages, and ambushes were some of the more common.

Speaking of artillery, Yukari wondered how students were even able to be proficient at indirect fire. Shooting was hard enough when you could see what you were shooting at; but to shoot at a moving target at long ranges without being able to see them? Questions, questions, questions…

* * *

After finishing the last of the records, Yukari emerged from the archive room with an empty jug of coffee, and the mother-of-all dark circles under her eyes. She yawned, and for the first time she could remember in a while, looked at a nearby clock, at which point her jaw slightly dropped. She spent more or less the entire _day _in the room! She also remembered her friends, including Nishizumi-dono, having joined her for the first few videos, but they all seemed to have left at some point. When did they leave?

Her stomach rumbled; Yukari was relieved that no one was nearby to hear it. She did forget to eat during her record-viewing session. She decided to head to the cafeteria; she remembered there being a small student-run shop selling drinks and pastries until midnight.

When she arrived, Yukari was certainly surprised to see other people in the cafeteria, especially when she spotted Lucius-san amongst the group. Odd, she expected a proper person like him to already be asleep. Even odder that he was wearing something other than semi-formal; he was clad in completely bland slippers, shorts, and short-sleeve shirt. His hair was braced up with a…a plastic headband?! Now that was just wrong! The headband was a cheap, dull, crude, black horseshoe-shaped plastic product, worthy of being sold at a variety store. Nothing that screamed any gender identity –in fact, it was almost invisible-but what Yukari witnessed here was totally incompatible with Lucius-san of every other time she was with him.

Lucius noticed her hesitating at the door to the cafeteria, and called out, "Hey, it's Yukari! Come join us if you want!" His company of friends, composed of a generous mix of boys and girls, gestured for about the same thing. Yukari complied, taking an empty seat directly in front of him, her body completely stiff and awkward. She suddenly found the design of the table to be very interesting, from the smoothness of the finish to the fine grain of the wood.

"So, what did you think of all the videos? Did you see anything interesting?" Lucius-san started, in a casual tone that was totally alien to Yukari's ears.

Nevertheless she answered, "They were very interesting. A lot of tactics seem to amount to causing maximum panic among the other team before joining battle."

"Yeah, that more or less sums up how teams run here. Still-"

At this point Yukari remembered her question on the artillery crews. "Umm…just how are you even able to use artillery? I still think students should not have been able to understand the math involved with indirect fire…" The tips of her ears started to glow red upon realizing she cut off whatever Lucius-san was about to say in her own excitement.

Lucius simply shrugged. "Well, it certainly is more problematic when they are try to shoot at individual vehicles, it gets complicated very quickly. Which is why we don't. Our artillery is used in massed barrages at larger formations to cause havoc. Lucky if any of them actually hit something, no harm done if they don't as long as they land in the area of the enemy. Even then it's pretty complicated. So the artillery crew tryouts generally take place a few years earlier than other positions, and for the first year, only learn the math involved with an actual gunner from the military. First year crews don't even touch the launchers until the later few months of the training."

A new voice cut in, "You know, I still think it would be better for the newbies to have more interactions with the physical pieces in their first year of training. I mean…"

The conversation continued between the new voice and Lucius-san, but Yukari blocked them out, her question more or less being answered, although it did raise a few more. Instead, she leaned to her left, whispering to Andrew-san, Lucius-san's gunner to whom she was introduced to following her first battle against Vimy Ridge, "Why does Lucius-san look like…well, _this_? He is usually so sharply dressed when around other people. And the headband?"

Andrew-san raised an eyebrow, before forming his lips into a small "oh…" He then answered, "You haven't yet seen how he is in his private moments, haven't you?"

"P-p-p-private moments?" Implications after implications sped through Yukari.

"Well, less private and more…informal. He's one of those people who believe in maintaining a professional look at "work", and releasing themselves once off-duty."

"So he was showing off a fake character?"

"No, no, no. They're both his genuine character. He likes to think of his time as public and private. He maintains politeness and sharp clothing when at "work" so he does not step on any toes. And he does like what he wears at those times, but you have to admit, they are bulky. Same with that personality; it is tiring to maintain in the face of the many idiots that sometimes are around him. So when not working, he throws off all those bulky things, and keeps to what is comfortable without a care for appearance for the sake of having a good rest and a fun spare time."

* * *

The next day, Yukari once again found herself in Vimy Ridge Tankery Club's archives, with Saori, Hana, Mako, Miho, and Lucius, but this time for a different reason. The night Yukari encountered Lucius-san in his casual form, he mentioned having to dive into the old records "once again" the next day, courtesy of Mary's orders. He asked for help from everyone who was with him, but they all suddenly remembered lost promises for that day.

_"Uhh, about that…I'm supposed to wait for a call at that time."_

_"I have a summer job interview scheduled for that time tomorrow."_

_"I'm supposed to be in a game tournament that day all day."_

_Even Lucius-san's friend Andrew refused, the most bluntly. "Yeah…I saw the archive. I experienced the dive. There is no way I'm going back in there. You're on your own there, buddy"_

Lucius-san released a barrage of deep sighs after everyone save her evacuated the area shortly after that, leaving behind a mess of chairs. She didn't want to sound pitiful, but….it was a pitiful sight to see. So she told him that she would help him with the task. Upon hearing this, the rest of her friends decided to join in as well, not content to leave just Yukari to suffer the universal monster that was known as paperwork. No, they would all join her, and more people would lighten the workload for everybody.

Indeed, the work had progressed quite quickly; Lucius-san was pleasantly surprised at how much faster the work went. Normally this would have been impossible, considering none of the girls, except maybe Isuzu-dono could read English in a great detail, but in this instance, all they had to look for were one of two stamp marks at the bottom of each paper, reading either "scrapped", or "sold". Yukari even heard him mumbling something about forcing people to help him the next time at one point. Now they were just down to one pile of papers, which was divided into stacks of ten for each person.

The content of the papers were definitely continental in variety, although they all were related to Tankery. Items discussed ranged from ammunition to periscope glasses to entire tanks, judging from the photographs attached to each document. The tanks themselves wildly varied as well; apparently Vimy Ridge Academy used to have vehicles from AEC Armoured Cars and the Ram tanks to even a Churchill AVRE. A few Sextons Self-Propelled Artillery as well. Too bad they were all either sold as scrap metal-some vehicles came to violate newer regulations, like the AVRE and the Sextons, Lucius-san mentioned- or as whole pieces to others; Ooarai would certainly have been happy to purchase any of the tanks Vimy Ridge got rid of at one point or another.

Mako spoke, breaking Yukari's thought. "There's a paper without any of the stamps on it. There aren't even any signatures on it."

"Ah, thank you. Would you mind if you gave that to me? I need to see what fell through the paperwork and see if it needs attention," Lucius-san responded, back to his polite and formal self during the day. Mako handed the guilty paper over; she couldn't read any of it. Not only was it in English, the handwriting was almost unreadable. Yukari got a glimpse of the attached photo, but it flashed by too quickly for her to identify.

Lucius-san took a brief glance, and furrowed his eyebrows. He read it again, this time taking more time, blinking his eyes in slight disbelief. And again. And again. "The KV-85?"

* * *

**AN:**

Severstal, honestly, I wasn't thinking about that side of the requirements when I first wrote this. I tried to write into this chapter my justifications, and I hope you find them acceptable. Also, when I first started out, I thought learning indirect-fire has to be easier than learning to dogfight or to go on ground strikes in fighter planes and actually hope to hit something.

Aga04, I know artillery isn't overpowered. Big damage roll, but those soft stats are anything but soft on arty drivers. I was only trying to convey the typical WoT player's reaction to getting oneshot by arty (the gamer girls _are_ heavily implied to play WoT...) I'm much more lenient in reactions. Arties get persecuted enough without one more person jumping into the bandwagon, and it's just a game. No need to get OMGWTFUNOOBUNISTALLYOUSCUMBAG about it. Also, note GuP's liberal use of "carbon lining" xD But seriously, in my mind the Cromwell was only trying to immobilize the Pz. IV, so the commander wasn't being _too_ reckless about the speed when approaching to ram.

And yes, I said persecuted.


	7. Negotiation

Miho, Hana, Saori, and Mako could only wonder what this "KV-85" was. Thy have heard of a KV-1, a KV-2, a KV-1S, and a T-34/85, but never a KV-85.

Yukari's eyes widened in delight. "That's a very rare tank, just like the Tiger P! Well, a lot more KV-85s were built than Tiger Ps, and the former even saw combat, but only about a 100 were made during the war! I didn't even know anyone manufactured any of those anymore for even senshado!"

"Yukari-san, do you know what this KV-85 is?" Miho asked. She could vaguely remember some variant of the KV-1, but that was where her memory ended.

"Of course, Nishizumi-dono! It was a KV-1S that mounted a Stalin tank's turret, armed with the 85mm gun found on earlier T-34/85s so the Russians had a heavy tank that could fight the new Panthers before the Stalin tanks entered production. Of course, they couldn't fit such a large turret on the old body, and had to fit fillets to the sides of the hulls. They were heavily involved in fighting in the Eastern Front, and were replaced as soon as the IS-2 entered production. The Russians also experimented by trying to put in a 122mm gun of the IS-2 into the KV-85 but-"

"Err, Yukarin, I think that is as far as we need to know for the moment," Saori cut in. She really was worried for Yukarin at times, when she just went on and on about tanks without realizing it.

Yukari noticed that yes, once again, she went on a panzer trip, and abruptly stopped herself. "Sorry…"

"Well, this is certainly surprising. How in the world this document and tank fell through the paperwork the first time around, I have no idea. This should have been sold years ago when we cleared out the inventory of everything that was not used. I wonder where this is right now," Lucius contemplated, "well, I believe that was the last of the papers. Thank you for all your help, everyone."

"What will happen to this tank?" Yukari asked. She simply had to know what the fate of this rare specimen was going to be. Though there were rarer pieces out there, it wasn't every day someone came upon a KV-85.

"It will probably be sold one way or another. Finding someone who will be interested in it will be a challenge, however. I daresay the Executive's secretaries will be earning their grant for this one." With that, Lucius left the room, headed in the direction of the student president's office.

"Yukari-san, could you go find our Student Council President and tell her about this spare tank Lucius-san told us about?" Miho asked after a short contemplation.

Yukari's eyes brightened, fully understanding the motive behind those words, "Of course Nishizumi-dono, I will go tell them right away!"

Student Council members' reactions to this revelation did not disappoint.

* * *

Anzu was ecstatic, to say the least. Another spare tank! And if what Yukari told her about the tank was correct, it wasn't just a surplus tank barely worthy of its title, it was a capable machine! If Vimy Ridge was planning to sell it anyway and if they were going to have a hard time finding someone interested in it, she could possibly purchase this KV-85 at a cheap cost. It was only be the publicity of winning a senshado tournament their school could stay afloat, and they had to be on the constant lookout for upgrades to maintain that reputation, lest their shaky pedestal collapse. Her assistants and friends, Momo and Yuzu, and Yukari, felt the same way, and kept their pace in time with hers to reach the office before anything final took place.

It was a testament to just how ecstatic she was that she more or less slammed the office door open with as much force as she could muster to her arms. The door swung into the wall with a resounding thud; a dramatic entrance if there ever was one.

Once the annoying barrier was moved out of the way, Anzu could see Vimy Ridge's school president and the school's senshado team captain locked in a particularly deep-looking discussion, going over some piece of paper laid out on the former's table. The latter was asserting something to the school president. The subject of their discussion was obvious.

"So I conclude that this building, probably an old, forgotten shed of some sort, must be the place where it must have been left. Everywhere else is regularly checked, and _he_ was not so irresponsible that tanks would be lying around on some random patch of land."

Okay, maybe not so obvious.

Still, they must have been having quite the spirited talk, if they only noticed their entrance just now, even when the door was mercilessly thrown open, and even then only because the school president's usual seat was facing the door.

To the left of the table, Anzu saw that the Anglerfish team, excepting Yukari, was already in the room, tucked away ever so slightly toward the edge. Unlike the two arguing over what turned out to be a map, the Anglerfish team immediately noticed their entrance.

"You've made it," said Nishizumi-chan, to which Anzu simply smirked. She had to make sure to thank her later.

"Is something the matter, President Kadotani? Is there a particular reason you have tried to destroy my office door?" Mary inquired. Just like the first time Anzu saw her, Mary Hillson carried an air that decreed "I am superior to all of you" to everyone around her. Not a second had passed after she made her first statement, she continued, "I assume you are here because of the forgotten tank that we still have somewhere in the grounds according to the paperwork?"

Anzu steeled herself; Hillson was going to be a tough person to negotiate with unless she sounded serious. "Yes. I was just wondering what you plan to do with the surplus…KV-85."

"At this moment," Mary answered, "we plan to sell it, since we have no need for it. We will probably be selling it piecemeal; the gun, turret, and hull separately. That way we will get some decent profit from the sale."

"Or," Anzu started, "we can negotiate a deal for the tank that can satisfy both of us. You get paid to get rid of something you don't want, and we walk away with a capable vehicle."

Hillson's eyes sharpened ever so slightly. "How much are you willing to offer?"

Anzu mentioned the price. Everyone suddenly felt the room get colder.

"President Kadotani, excuse me if I sound rude, but I would consider that to be nothing short of theft. I know I can get a much better deal through other channels."

Anzu did not flinch. "That offer is negotiable. It is lower than average, I admit that. However, you did not find the tank yet, did you? We will do the search and restoration using our own finances. Also, please keep in mind that we will be taking the tank whole, out of your hands right away."

"I can have our own tankery club to do the search, and I am willing to wait if time allows me to gain a greater profit."

* * *

Vimy Ridge's president was not budging an inch. Yukari was starting to get worried; at this rate, her team would have to walk away barehanded, and she really did not fancy going into the next championships with the same lineup, minus the destroyed Type 89. Yukari looked around her.

Nishizumi-dono had the tip of her thumb clasped between her teeth.

Izusu-san wore a worried expression.

Reizei-san similarly looked frustrated in disapproval of the situation.

Takebe-san's hands were gripping the hem of her skirt.

Off to the side of the table, Lucius-san had his eyes closed, and was massaging the bridge of his nose. He opened his eyes. Yukari realized she was directly in front of Lucius.

Yukari pointed a finger at the two student council presidents, then brought her hands together as if she was praying.

Lucius furrowed his eyebrows. A moment later, he jabbed his thumb at himself while making a curious face.

Yukari nodded.

Lucius crunched his face in hopeless resignation and shrugged.

Yukari brought her hands together again, shaking and rubbing them together this time. Her entire figure radiated desperation.

Lucius's head pivoted downwards. He squeezed his temples with his index fingers. Eventually, he gave a small nod.

Lucius moved to intervene in the deadlock. "Please, we will achieve nothing if we maintain hostility towards each other."

"Well you don't expect me to accept that kind of an offer, do you?" Mary retorted, "Well, do you have any _brilliant_ idea to solve this issue? Knowing you, you would not have cut in without a plan."

"Honestly, President Hillson? I believe you are being much too optimistic about the amount of money we can expect if we went ahead with current plans."

"Oh? Do tell, if you please."

"We will be lucky to get half the earning you want to milk out of the KV-85 be selling it in pieces; People would probably be willing to spend a little more money and get their hands on brand-new equipment rather than from a second-hand deal at that price. And we already know better than to even try selling it as a whole piece. Add to that-"

"I have seen the same parts up on offer at similar prices."

"I believe I have seen that too; I don't think they have been sold to anyone in two years. Anyway, add to that, we need to factor in the costs of properly disassembling the tank so all the arts come out in a usable condition, the costs of keeping them in a warehouse while we wait for a potential buyer, and the costs of making sure the parts remain usable during the time they are going to be sitting in the said warehouses wasting away. I will be better to just take this chance while we have one, and 'not look a gift horse in its mouth' as some would say."

Mary tried to make an argument, but could not find a proper one.

"Lucius continued, "Having said that, I do admit the offer is somewhat low. I propose this: Ooarai will add to the payment the cost of purchasing 70 rounds of the KV-85's ammunition; I believe that is the full complement of shells for this particular vehicle."

Anzu considered the compromise. Yuzu whispered to her that the additional cost compromise would not prove to be too much of a strain on Ooarai's senshado team budget. That was the last confirmation Anzu needed. "I find that satisfactory. How about you, President Hillson?"

Mary's chin rested on her clasped hands. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally stated, "…fine. I will accept. But you will be the ones responsible for actually looking for the tank. You will also be the ones to bear the costs of transporting it back to Ooarai Girls' Academy."

Miho and Saori gave a sigh of relief.

Hana clapped at what she understood as a good deal. Mako followed her cue.

Anzu and Yuzu rejoiced, and embraced each other in elation while cheering.

Momo gave a happy smile-when she thought no one else was looking-to Lucius.

Yukari could not bear her own joy any longer. She ran forwards, and took into her arms the boy who made this possible while shedding teardrops of delight. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Lucius could only look at her in surprise. "It wasn't something that was unachievable. Consider it a gift from me to you." Of course, when he said it, he meant to all the girls from Ooarai.

* * *

Naturally, that context went flying out the window in the mind of a certain orange-haired girl. Saori had observed how Yukari and Lucius had acted since arriving in Canada. She just knew they had to have feelings for each other. For what other reason would a boy gift something as expensive as a tank to a girl? And Yukari also got nervous when Saori asked if there was anything between the two of them. If Yukari did not have feelings for him, why would she have acted like that? But the two of them were probably oblivious about all of this. Yukari was so obsessed with tanks and anything or anyone to do with tanks to have any experience in this area, and Lucius always acted like the aloof gentleman. Maybe she should help them along. Yes…she should.

But first, she had to find someone she could trust on Vimy Ridge's side as well; this was going to have to be an operation from both sides.

* * *

Finally, once the initial excitement wore off, Anzu realized they still had to find the newly-obtained KV-85. After all, what they bargained for up until now amounted to a single sheet of paperwork saying the tank was not yet sold.

But that was no problem; after all, they had experience digging up tanks from the most ridiculous places. Anzu yelled, "Alright, everyone, let's get the rest of our teams and find that tank!" and sped out the door as fast as her short legs could carry her. Everyone else in the room followed her at a much more reasonable walking pace.

Everyone except Academy Chief Executive Mary Hillson. She remained in her seat. As Miho, Yukari, and Lucius was about to step out the door, she spoke. "Lucius, you sometimes seem to think yourself better and more knowledgeable than me, countermanding my decisions the moment you get annoyed. Like today. I will allow this for the time being, but know that there are lines that if you cross, I will act. Remember who _he_ chose as his heir."

Lucius answered with clenched teeth, "Of course, Executive," and closed the door.

* * *

Miho was quite shaken by President Hillson's choice of words, and was glad that she was out of the room. She couldn't help but ask, "Is she always so…confident?"

Saori's question was much more blunt. "She was quite bossy; almost like back when our president forced Miporin to join the senshado club. You could have warned us about that, you know." She made a slight jab with her elbow at Lucius for emphasis.

"I do not speak ill of people. Especially not in polite company," was the only response they got.

* * *

**AN:** Bleh, This chapter was fighting me through the writing, and sounded better in my head. It was also supposed to be longer, but it was getting too long so I had to cut it off here, leaving some things hanging.


	8. Rearmament

Finding the KV-85 turned out to be more difficult than at first thought. When they arrived to where the tank was supposed to be as Lucius said – in an old, forgotten shed – every member of the search party, consisting of all the teams from Ooarai, Lucius and Jack, was shocked to find out that the shed was not there. They spent about an hour just trying to find any trace of the lost building. With each passing minute, the Anzu and Momo's glare toward Lucius grew ever sharper.

The breakthrough came at the end of that hour. Hoping to get a better view, Caesar climbed to the top of the largest snow dune that was in the area. She unfortunately lost her footing once she got there, landing on the cold slope on her back.

And shearing off a portion of the accumulated snow from the tip of the mound with her heel.

When Caesar and the rest of the History club looked at the spot where she fell, a sheet of somewhat rusted metal was clearly visible where the snow was sheared off. Curious, they expanded the tiny pit, exposing even more metal. At this point, they called out to Lucius about a find, who hurried to the site with a shovel taken from the Crowell they rode in on.

The sheet of metal turned out to be the corrugated iron roof of their lost shed. The joy of the find was short-lived when it dawned upon the treasure hunters just how much snow had to be moved to access the gate. At that point, Jack, annoyed that he had to come all the way out to this site in his spare time, on Lucius's request, no less, decided that the best way to clear out all the snow was to fire a blank 75mm cartridge at the mound. Lucius tried to stop him, but Ooarai's first years joined Jack and the only thing he could do was to evacuate everyone in the vicinity before Jack pulled the trigger. The mound evaporated, throwing up broken branches that collected on the shed to ludicrous levels.

"Jack, see me tomorrow after the end of training," was what Lucius said to Jack after he climbed out of the turret. Meanwhile, the Ooarai girls sped into the now-exposed garage, built in an oddly shallow elliptical shape. In fact, the building was five times as long as it was tall. No wonder it got buried in debris and snow after a few years.

Still, the shed had done its job of protecting whatever was held inside. While the surface of the KV-85 had some rust, the insides were at an acceptable condition. The tracks were still good enough for moving. It was towed by the Cromwell back to another hangar, much closer to Vimy Ridge Academy this time, to be serviced to operational status.

* * *

Strange, Lucius thought. The day after they found the old Russian tank, Jack entered his office – there were certain perks to being Mary's assistant – as he was told to. He gave him the usual lecture: he was too impulsive, his brashness put everyone around him at risk, especially yesterday, he needed to learn some moderation and self-discipline around other people, and so on. Standard stuff he had to say once every week. Every other time he gave the lecture, Jack always had an expression that screamed that he barely tolerated being told off during a time Jack thought he should have to do as he wished. Today, it was different. He had a thin smile throughout the entire session, as though he had some sort of a revenge plotted out. But nothing out of the ordinary happened. Jack more or less let his words flow in through one ear, and out the other.

Perhaps he should be worried. Perhaps he should look into this, and crush whatever plot he was forming before it took material form.

"Maybe tomorrow," Lucius muttered to himself. He had more pressing matters to attend to, and could not be bothered by some presumablely juvenile prank. Now, where did he put that folder…

* * *

To say Yukari was enjoying the training would have been an understatement. Vimy Ridge's engineers and Ooarai's own automobile club working together around the clock completed all the restoration of the KV-85 that was recovered. After some thought, Nishizumi-dono allocated the new tank to Duck team, who still had not received a replacement for their old mount, the type 89. Unless the loaned tank, the Ram, counted as a replacement.

There was another reason why the Duck team in particular received the new tank. At 4 members, they were one of the few teams in their academy that had a full complement of crews, allowing their new heavy beast to work with maximum efficiency.

And what a beast it was. Because it was based on the KV-1S, the KV-85 was quite fast for a heavy tank; in fact, it could comfortably keep up with Ooarai's medium tanks at times. While Yukari had seen tanks with better armour, their new tank's armour was nothing to scoff at, either. And the gun. Where the type 89 was incapable of engaging in gun battles against other tanks, the KV-85 had delivered. Although it did not have the same punch as their Tiger P's famed 88, Ooarai now had another capable gun that could be counted on to knock out enemy vehicles. Duck team was certainly awed by the power of their new gun. They declared that they had a flashback to the first time they fired a tank gun, in the type 89. No one doubted them. But they now had their rate of fire to improve; an 85mm Anti-tank shell was in a different league in bulk and weight compared to the 57mm rounds they were used to loading in the Type 89 and the Ram.

With another day of training over, all the participants parked and stepped out of their vehicles. Students of Ooarai and Vimy Ridge casually mixed with each other, sharing stories ranging from senshado to the dinner menu of the day. While fluent speaking was still something of an issue, most of the Japanese girls found themselves halfway capable of conversing with, or at least understanding the Canadians. Hana, Lucius, and Mary's insistence on their taking part in Vimy Ridge's regular classes in addition to senshado ensured they picked up at least a few useful English words if nothing else.

Out of this crowd emerged Lucius-san. Strangely enough, he did not attend any of the training for the last few days, so it was actually a small surprise to see him in the hangars again. In his arm was a folder, and his steps led him directly to Nishizumi-dono.

"I would like to ask, Miho-san, how you feel about the exercises we have been having together so far?"

"I think accepting the offer was a good idea," Nishizumi-dono replied, "everyone has been learning so much from each other. With each day, we are becoming more flexible. I think my sister, and everyone else back in Japan would be impressed with the results."

"Well, they are beneficial, keeping our skills and reflexes from decaying, but they do not really help in teaching how to react instantly during the heat of an actual match."

Nishizumi-dono shook her head in agreement. "That's true, but it's the best we can do."

A slight smirk grew on Lucius-san. "Well, not exactly. Vimy Ridge actually has a showmatch planned with another team in a week. I was going to send the last of the confirmation forms until I remembered all of you," he stated as he swung an arm, indicating all of his guests from Ooarai, "it might take a little reorganizing, but we could easily fit in Ooarai's tankery club as part of a joint team."

"Really? Would it not be a lot of a hassle? A showmatch must have taken a long time to plan; I don't want our team to be a bother by throwing off all the scheduled plans."

"The planning did not actually take a long time," Lucius-san spoke dismissively, "There used to be so many of those taking place between championships, standard procedures were set up to ease planning. In fact, they were thought to be nothing more than competitive training with people who happened to be there watching. Sometimes they were set up to be grander spectacles, but those types were rare." He finished with a faraway look of nostalgia. Hold on, Showmatches were common?

Yukari couldn't help but ask. "Umm…when I went through all the videos in the archive, I didn't see a single showmatch among them. If they are so common, why are there no records of such matches?"

"I must correct you; they** _were_** common. But not one took place in the last three years."

That was definitely surprising. Why would a series of events that were so regular just stop one year? Yukari asked again.

Lucius-san replied, "There was one…no, perhaps two reasons for that abrupt halt. The first one was a particular match five years ago that was set up to be so grand it would dwarf any other of its kind. And dwarf it did."

"How did it differ from other matches?" Yukari pushed him to continue.

"Six academies were invited to take part in one battle, with three academies to a team. I believe there were about 120 vehicles of all types taking part in that one match."

Everyone from Ooarai who heard that did not even realize their jaws had dropped. Yukari in particular had to comment, "That must have been an incredible experience!"

Lucius-san continued, "It was magnificent. No other word for it. Although, the match didn't start out as promising; each academies acted as if they were the overall leaders. Scores of vehicles ended up driving straight into enemy guns without support. About half the vehicles from each side were lost within the first hour that way."

By now, everyone stopped their own conversations, and gave Lucius their full attention for what was turning out to be a quite a story.

"Eventually, our commander at the time decided that enough was enough, and told everyone he was taking command of all vehicles left standing on our side; it helped that the other leaders were taken out in some insignificant skirmishes. I assume the same happened to the other team. After that chaos of the first hour, both sides dug in the forests, and made reconnaissance-in-force attacks. Despite his best efforts, it was impossible for any one person to oversee all 60 vehicles directly, so he ended up dividing the team into groups of ten that he could order indirectly through the groups' own leaders."

"That," Yukari couldn't help but wonder, "that sounds a bit like Vimy Ridge's current system…"

"Yes, it does," Lucius-san agreed, "in fact, that's where he got the idea for regular troop divisions in our team from; that was where our current tactic was born. Anyway, in the end the match took place over multiple days. The fuel and ammunition count for both teams became a serious concern and both sides had to have resupply trucks drive in to continue the battle. At that moment, our team attacked their supply column, and that went up in a…very satisfying series of explosions. Yes…it was a good thing all the trucks were remote-controlled. Well, we got our supplies, they didn't and that was that."

"That all sounds amazing," Yukari commented, "but what does that match have anything to do with the 3-year gap in showmatches?" Others murmured in agreement.

"It seemed like the match was such a spectacle that others were deterred to be the one directly after it. In fact, the matches stopped taking place for about a month after that while everyone was still reeling from its greatness. There were even talks of separating showmatches from practise matches, but that was shot down," Lucius-san explained.

To Yukari, that reason was somewhat dubious. "Then what is the second reason?"

To her surprise, the faces of every tanker of Vimy Ridge including Lucius-san grew solemn. Lucius-san even avoided any eye contact as he continued what was turning out to be a small lesson, "It was a tragic incident. Should never have been allowed to happen."

Yukari braced herself for a grim incident; it was probably something like Nishizumi-dono's own experience with potential dangers with senshado.

Her preparations turned out to be insufficient at best for what was ahead. "In North America, open-topped vehicles used to be legal; a lot of fans of the US tank destroyers clamoured for such an exception, and most self-propelled artillery are also open-topped. As a precaution, teams were explicitly told to aim for the vehicles' hulls. Artillery was forbidden from barraging such targets. It was thought at the time such 'precautions' were enough, and that the benefits outweighed any risks," Lucius-san gave a bitter laugh in response to that last sentence. "Well, it wasn't. In one of the practise showmatches involving two other academies, a team was using a hummel for direct-fire attacks like a tank destroyer from a hidden dugout. The opposing side believed it was a hidden tank destroyer, and called for artillery. A shell found its way straight into the fighting compartment, and most importantly, the ammunition racks." Lucius-san was shifting uncomfortably now. No one blamed him.

He took a moment to collect himself. "We were told that…a piece of charred remain of someone's skin about 1.5cm across was the biggest human remain they found. Every self-respecting participant of tankery attended their funerals. Everyone."

Yukari saw Nishizumi-dono trembling, mouth agape. She had come very close to losing people under her command; what must Nishizumi-dono be thinking right now? Similarly, no one within earshot of Lucius-san's voice could, nor did they bother hiding looks of horror. At least unlike her mother, the tragedy was mourned by everyone as just that, a tragedy.

"After that, in an emergency convention of the NAASA, any and all open-topped vehicles were immediately banned. So were non-artillery vehicles with weapons that primarily relied on explosive shells. Regulations for HE shells got tougher; almost all the explosives were taken out, replaced by pyrotechnics to imitate an explosion without causing one. Finally, as a tribute to those poor souls, a moratorium on showmatches was imposed for three years by vote."

Lucius-san began to pace around the hangar in restlessness. Yukari herself also started to fidget, but for different reasons. She was conflicted; while she understood why people decided to go to such lengths to mourn the loss, and made logical tightening of rules, something in her core simply could not cope with a senshado association voting to remove a major segment of its events.

"I was there in the convention, you know; as a junior representative of Vimy Ridge alongside our old commander and Mary. I could not in all consciousness vote against the proposal."

Not a word made its way out into the world for a few minutes after Lucius-san finished his talk.

The deafening silence was broken my Lucius-san clasping his hands together in a sharp clap. "Well, I suppose I rambled on enough about past events. So, coming back to the original question…"

* * *

Despite the terrible disaster the series suffered, everyone was wholeheartedly willing to take part in the senshado showmatch. Not having any vehicles that had the same vulnerability helped. Seeing the enthusiasm from all of her clubmates, she accepted the offer, at which point they broke out into another round of cheering, eager to take part in a competitive play again. While the ecstatic atmosphere hung in the entire hangar, Lucius spotted Saori faintly glancing at Jack, trying to be stealthy and for the most part succeeding; only with the benefit of his trained vision did he manage to notice her. Jack likewise gave a small nod. However, he wore a smile that was anything but innocent. Lucius wondered what they were planning. Did this have anything to do with Jack's strange behaviour a few days ago in his office?

I have been noticing recently," Saori addressed Lucius, "you have been talking with Yukari a lot; spending a lot of time wither her in particular." She made a vague motion with one of her hands as she spoke.

"I have been interacting with her for as long as I deemed necessary to both our clubs' cooperation," Lucius responded, unflinching.

"Dude, we all know you're talking out of your ass right now," Jack interrupted, "You barely ever talk with people outside of classes. Locking yourself in your room or office playing who knows what."

"I will have you know gaming is a legitimate pastime," Lucius could not help but raise his tone. "But I admit I have been interacting with her more than other people lately. She is an interesting person to be around."

"So you do find her attractive!" Saori quipped, face smug in apparent victory.

"I am as attracted to Yukari here as much as I am attracted to my other friends, such as Andrew." Lucius chuckled as Saori turned beet red. "They are both good friends. But, in the end, only as friends."

Yukari intervened, hoping to stop Saori from starting anything. "I enjoy being with Lucius-san as well. He's almost like a male version of Nishizumi-dono at times!

Lucius suddenly found the floor of the hangar a very interesting sight.

"So you two both like each other!"

"Again, as friends."

"That doesn't mean you two can't grow to like each other more! And besides, you have already done things that only couples would be doing together!"

Lucius and Yukari had to both cock their heads at that. "Oh? What 'things' would those be?"

"Volunteering to be the one to be with Yukarin during that practise shooting when Hana was sick," Saori started to list, "Taking much longer than others to get back to the hangars after the practice."

Jack joined in, "Allowing her access to our archives, spending time with her much longer than you used to poke your nose out of your room."

Saori continued, "Convincing your student council president to sell the heavy tank when Yukarin requested you to help…" the list went on and on and on.

With each addition to the list, Yukari felt herself shrinking and shrinking, pretending to ignore the barrage of accusations was not happening.

Lucius leaned to her ear and whispered, "This will not end anytime soon, especially if they decide to spread their opinions to others. Follow my lead, and we may be able to escape them quicker."

He then declared to Jack and Saori, "Alright, alright, I am convinced. I may have been harbouring deeper emotions toward Yukari."

Yukari gasped at him in shock. Jack's smirk grew even bolder. Saori merely smiled at the two.

"Then you two should become an official couple."

"I don't mean to be rude, but what are you doing?!" Yukari's whisper resembled a hiss more than a whisper proper.

"These two are merely trying to have fun with us. Humor them for the moment, and this whole issue should fade away soon enough. Denying will only make things worse."

Yukari grumbled, but could not find a fault with his line of thought.

"Fine, from this moment on, I accept that Yukari and I are a couple." Lucius concluded with a tone of finality. Yukari nodded in fake acceptance.

Satisfied that the two matchmaking trouble makers were suitably placated, he moved to the doors, Yukari at his side to keep up the act for a little longer. Just in case. As he took hold of the knob, he spoke out one more, grabbing the attention of the rest of the people in the hangar. "By the way, I would appreciate it if Ooarai's student council and tankery captain joined me in my office in an hour; there is one more issue I wished to discuss before someone interrupted."

* * *

The next few days passed at breakneck speed. Both senshado and tankery team finally had a concrete goal in mind when training for the first time in a while; to win the showmatch the two teams signed up to join. And not just a close victory by a flag kill facing against overwhelming quantity and quality that Ooarai was used to. Everyone conducted their exercises with the full expectation to crush the opposing team; Lucius even summed up their ideal attitude in one phrase: "We go into battle not to fight, but to collect the kill numbers. The only question is how efficiently we collect those kills; Do not let needless passion get in the way of reason in moves that cost us guns."

The battleground was chosen during this time. After a day of heated debates via webcam, a site about 25km southwest of Las Vegas was selected and agreed upon. However, this meant al the vehicles from Vimy Ridge and Ooarai academies had to be sent on their way a day or two earlier than the tankers themselves, robbing them of precious practise time. The lost time was used to formulate strategy; such sessions were always a rowdy affair, as Lucius always insisted on including every single tanker, even if only as observers.

It was well known that their would-be opponent's mainstay was the dependable M4A3E8 "Easy Eight". Somewhat comparable to Vim Ridge's own Cromwells, except where one traded the gun for speed, and vice versa.

The problem lied in what they would bring to support their bulk of medium tanks. Lucius was confident the support would come in the form of nimble light tanks. Miho was more concerned about any potential tank destroyers. Andrew warned everyone about possible air support. And those three were only the most supported theories; more, less likely ideas floated around at all times.

As the talks continued, the appointed date drew closer.

* * *

"Why is it so cold!" Saori couldn't help but exclaim, "This is supposed to be a desert isn't it?" The first years in particular who were shivering at times could not help but agree with her. They have been heeding to Saori, their respected and dependable senior for some time now, ever since they got lost in the Academy warship.

When the Mojave Desert was confirmed to be the battleground, people were understandably concerned about the extreme heat and packed only light clothes. Those in the know made sure to include a set of long pants and long-sleeved shirts somewhere in their packs.

"Well, it_ is_ approaching winter, and the Mojave Desert is known to become quite cold starting in this time of the year." Truthfully, Lucius had no idea either until a quick internet browsing revealed a table of climate for the area.

"I actually think is kind of hot. I'm about to be sweating over here," Andrew complained. Lucius pinched the bridge of his nose. Everyone from Vimy Ridge either facepalmed or rolled their eyes. Everyone from Ooarai gawked at the bold statement, staring at the boy as if he was an incomprehensible monster.

"Andrew, you start sweating at 10'C," Lucius deadpanned. He never could understand exactly how 10'C could be "too warm" for anyone. "I would say you are the stereotypical Canadian personified."

They were currently in the staging area, where they would perform final checks and maintenance of each vehicle until the instruction to move onto the starting positions was given. The staging area was also the last access people had to a toilet, even a portable one. The enemy team, from an American academy named Sagittarius Team were also allocated a staging post, some distance away from Ooarai and Vimy Ridge's own and hidden from view, for obvious reasons.

With all the maintenance already finished, however, the teams found themselves hard pressed to fight off the uneasy boredom just before the storm. Some brought out decks of cards to pass the time and others chatted idly. A few people brought some reading material, ranging from restaurant advertisements to a 100-page long novel. The volleyball team even managed to convince Lucius's fellow tank crews – Lucius himself had been content to simply open and close his pocket watch repetitively - to play a game or two with two metal poles stabbed into the ground improvised as a net while they waited.

None of those distractions proved strong enough to ignore a girl wearing the opposing club's uniform approach Lucius with a big smile.

"Hey Sulla," she called out, "long time no see! How long has it been since we last got together like this? Three years?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you in person again," Lucius responded, "in more pleasant circumstances this time."

The girl pouted. "We've known each other for that long and you still insist on talking as if I'm a stranger when in public? You really have to work on relationships with people you know, Sulla."

"I will conduct myself in a manner I deem appropriate, Karen. If anything, you might want to consider stop using that nickname. Even Mary dropped using that, and she's the one who came up with it."

"Hey, I find it funny, so I will keep using it whether you like it or not," she settled, "So, are you going to introduce me to the girls over there like the good gentleman you purport to be?" She finished in a faux-British accent that dripped with sarcasm.

"Right, I have forgotten to do that haven't I?" Lucius faced the Ooarai team who by now stopped what they were doing. "Well, this is Karen Smirnova from Sagittarius. I have known her for about five years now after meeting in a tournament match. And Karen, this is the Ooarai Tankery team I have mentioned in the application."

"Ah, so this is the Japanese team you have been talking so much about? Spirited and skilled team working with scrap metal?" Yukari twitched a little at the word 'scrap', but she had to admit all their tanks were found as long-discarded forms of metal that were uncared for; literally, scrap.

"A Russian in America?" This one phrase voiced by one of the First Years summaries what the rest of the Ooarai club felt.

Karen shrugged noncommittally. "My great-grandfather immigrated to America from Russia in 1902. But I am a 'MURRICAN through and through." She strangely stressed the word "'Murrican", and snickered at her own words right after. They looked to Lucius for an explanation.

Lucius only rolled his eyes, and sighed. "You know that stopped being funny the second time you said it the first time we met. So, why did you come here in the first place?"

"To meet you, and your guests in person again, of course! Why else? I got bored."

Lucius raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Hey, I love journalists about as much as the next guy, and let me tell you, they are swarming our staging zone right now. Guess that's what I should expect for being the first team to do a showmatch in three years." Karen ended with a sigh.

"Well, it seems like there are benefits to being the away team, then." Lucius opened a pocket watch he kept in his breast pocket, and frowned. "They should be calling for us to move soon. You should leave so you have enough time to get back before they do."

Karen read her own watch. "Has it been this long already? Well then, time for me to go. Good luck in the battle." She concluded and walked away backwards, waving her arm.

* * *

As Lucius predicted, not long after had Karen left, the announcement for both teams to move into the starting area blared out from a speaker. The sand dunes made for a slightly hard going, but all tanks managed to get into position.

Just before the announcer started a countdown, Lucius addressed Vimy Ridge and Ooarai through the radio. "Alright, game faces everyone. We are still not completely sure what they will be bringing against us. Be sure to remain calm even under fire. Make the right decisions, and victory will be ours."

"We will make sure the victory will be one worthy of Rommel in Africa," Erwin spoke. She was eager to finally enact something her namesake was known so much for.

"Any name for the plan we have been working, on Lucius, Miho-chan?" Anzu asked, as per usual just before the start of any match.

"A name? What about…the Fishing Net Strategy?" Miho offered.

"That is too descriptive," Lucius countered, "For now, the plan will simply be referred to as 129."

"Such a boring name," anyone listening in on the transmission at the time could have sworn they heard the Student Council President pout through the radio. "That doesn't even mean anything."

"Which is perfect. No other name reveals absolutely nothing like a randomly selected set of numbers," Lucius insisted, but after a moment, conceded, "if you want, you can come up with a better one after the match ends and all the planning becomes irrelevant."

"I agree," Erwin's voice crackled, "the British were once able to develop countermeasures for German radar before the Germans themselves deployed them because the codename for the design was too obvious."

While they were conversing, the countdown had already started, and the number had already shrunk to five. It did not take long for the signal rocket to shoot upwards. The match began. Miho and Lucius gave their first commands of the battle.

"Panzer vor!"

"All Troops, advance!"

* * *

**AN:** Well, this thing ended up as a monster of a chapter. Hopefully it reads good enough to be considered a development in the story and plot, but if it sounds like a filler, hey, at least it's a 5000-word filler :P

Hopefully, my OCs and Lucius in particular don't sound completely one-dimensional.

Also, that number 129? It literally is random; I used a random number generator for that.

Next stop, the desert battle. Which I should come up with. SoonTM.


	9. Desert Pass - part I

**AN**: Warning. Loads and loads of character trope is at least partially in effect.

* * *

With the starting signals, all tanks sped off, kicking a cloud of dust behind them as they organized into their battle formations.

"All troops, to your assigned positions as discussed. Proceed, report, and await further orders," Lucius simply stated. He seemed to like speaking in as short sentences as possible when in a match.

"As Lucius-san said," Miho picked off, giving more detailed instructions to her own school's teams, "Duck, Leopon, and Goose teams will follow the Rhine and Danube teams north into the mountain pass. The rest of us, Hippo, Rabbit, Turtle, Anteater and Anglerfish teams will take the southern route with Britannia, Africa, and Euphrates teams."

"Yes, captain!" came the replies from the Ooarai teams.

Miho continued, "Remember, there is a large mountain between us and the enemy team's starting position, so artillery will be useless until they find a spot from which their shots can clear the hilltops. This battle will be decided tank to tank; do as we normally did in the National Championships."

* * *

"Tsuchiya, how are the controls doing?" Satoko, the commander of the Tiger P asked.

"Not too bad," Tsuchiya replied, "I don't smell anything burning, and we're climbing along, although slower than those British tanks. Leopon doesn't like hills, you know," she finished with a sigh. When they asked if they could be towed by one of Vimy Ridge's tanks, the answer they got was:

"Sorry, but no. I don't want my tank to be leashed to something when the enemy attacks."

"Haah, it's not like we can't cut the line just before entering the pass…" a hurried transmission sent to all tanks that went north drowned out Tsuchiya's musings.

"Contact front, mouth of pass! Two Chaffees!" cried the lead tank of the Danube column.

"Gemini to Claudia, Engage and continue forward. Inform future contacts," a feminine voice from XIV Gemini, command tank of the Danube troop, answered.

Guns thundered off in the distance. The lead tank's voice crackled again, "Chaffees destroyed, no casualties," then a gunshot. "Correction, Claudia is down."

"Danube, rearrange; Gemini will take lead, Cromwells follow," with that, a Comet with an "XIV" inscribed sped forward.

"Rhine will do the same. Rhine, rearrange!" A male voice this time spoke, and another Comet followed its friend.

Satoko asked, "Want us to engage, too?"

Gemini replied, "Not yet; don't tax your engine. We need all tanks at their peak performance without breakdowns. Continue at a comfortable speed."

* * *

"I still don't like how Vimy Ridge butchered the Roman legions' names," Caesar grumbled while waiting, "so many legions not in their proper defense lines…"

"Remember, they used to match," Erwin comforted her close friend, and loader for the StuG's gun, "until Lucius changed it by drawing straws. So it wasn't because they didn't know, they didn't think it was worth it."

"That's even worse! Discarding historical accuracy because he doesn't care! He puts shame to his own Latin name. And that nickname, 'Sulla'."

"Don't worry, he won't try to execute you," Erwin replied with a laugh, along with Saemonza and Oryou. "If he does, we can stop him, what with him acting like a 'gentleman' all the time, hahaha."

"Gemini to Ferrata, contacts in pass. Targets light, no troubles yet," the assigned commander for the northern attack reported to Lucius.

"This is Ferrata, continue, and keep me posted," Lucius's voice sounded.

"Looks like the north just fired the opening shots," Saemonza, the gunner commented, "when are we moving out again? I'm getting bored when I'm sitting here doing nothing while others are fighting. This isn't even waiting to ambush someone; just being idle."

Erwin checked her watch – a synchronized watch! "Unless something changes, in seven minutes and 20 seconds."

"This feels just like waiting for the countdown timer to run out before the start of a battle isn't it, Piyota, Momogawa?"

"Anteater team, I think you accidentally turned on the radio switch," Lucius advised, ever so slightly annoyed, "please limit talks on the radio to transmitting critical information."

"Oh, o-ok, as you say, commander Lucius," and with a click, Nekota went silent.

"Isn't that a little too harsh, Lucius-san?" Miho vouched for her clubmates, "They're just finding ways to pass the time before it is our turn to fight."

"It will always be good practice to be as efficient as possible when communicating. Taking time bantering on the radio is time that can be taken to scan the horizon again or just being ready at a moment's notice. Besides, the channel will be flooding with commands soon enough."

* * *

"That Lucius Park can really be a stickler for the rules sometimes, can't he Miho? No wonder he never seems to have had a girlfriend," Saori asked, "at times like these, he almost sounds like he transferred straight out of Kuromorimine. Except you of course, Miho." She added that last part after a brief pause.

Yukari remembered talking about something like this with Lucius-san some time ago. Oh, right! "Takebe-dono, he doesn't like to be compared to Kuromorimine. I noted how fit he would be there, based on his rules and efficiency, and he got angry."

Saori's face twisted into a devious smirk. "Defending you boyfriend aren't you, Yukarin?"

"Eh?! He-he-he's not my boyfriend!"

"Remember what we discussed in the garage a week ago?"

She ever admitted something like that? Only a week ago? There was no way! Wait.

A burst of memory flooded back to her. So they hadn't forgotten. Looks like Lucius-san miscalculated Takebe-dono's persistence in these things.

Hana broke in to the conversation. "Yukari-san has been in a relationship? With Lucius-san? Congratulations, Yukari-san. Although you two haven't known each other for very long, I wish you both the best of fortunes!"

Nishizumi-dono also commented on the fake declaration, "So that's why he spends most of his time out of schoolwork and coaching with you. I wish you both a good luck!"

Even Mako joined in. "Doing such a bothersome thing…have fun."

Yes, he seems to have grossly miscalculated.

Yukari was never gladder to see a radio transmission cut off a conversation. Being the leader of the Ooarai Senshado team, Anglerfish team was allocated the same importance in communications as Lucius-san's Ferrata team; that is to say, all reports from troop commanders were also received by the Pz. IV. This transmission was one of those. "Gemini to Ferrata! Big contacts north! Multiple easy eights, supported by two unknowns! Hispana and the rest of the Rhine Troop is down!" Hispana? That was Jack-san's tank.

Lucius-san answered, tone ever calm. "Ferrata to Gemini. Unknowns? Can you discern their identities?"

"Well, it looks like a skinny Tiger with a Panther turret," Gemini answered.

A thin tiger with a Panther's turret? That was certainly confusing. A hybrid of a medium tank and a heavy tank. Did it have the 88mm, or the 75mm? Was the armour the same? If the hull was thinner, there was no reason not to believe the armour might be similarly thinner.

"Oh! That can only be a VK36.01 (H)!" came the identification from surprisingly, the anteater team; from Nekota, of all people.

Yukari could almost _hear_ Lucius-san's eyes shine in glee. "You know what they are? Please, tell us."

"Of course! It was a prototype of the Tiger, with a projected weight of 40 tons. As designed, it had 100mm of armour in the front, with a similarly armoured turret carrying a 75mm L/70 gun used by the Panther. It could also hit a reasonable 40km/h since it has the Tiger's big engine while being lighter. The VK36.01 (H) is the midgame's main tanks in this game-"

Lucius-san cut in once again. "Thank you, Anteater, that will be all we need." Then, after changing the channel, he informed Gemini, "Ferrata to Gemini, two unknowns are VK3601s. Armour equal to Tiger, Panther gun. 40km/h maximum speed."

Gemini replied, "Affirmative, Ferrata. Any chance of reinforcements?"

"Negative on that. Your job is to look like the main attack, not to _be_ the main attack. Pretend to push as hard as possible without excessive casualties."

"Understood."

* * *

"Gemini to Leopon, Duck, and Goose, new orders. Heavy tanks to the fore!"

"Finally!" Satoko exclaimed, before answering with an "understood". Duck team responded likewise. She then told to her friends, "Tsuchiya, get us to the front! We can finally move to the front instead of skulking in the back!" Hoshinoand Suzuki, get ready to fire."

"Gemini to Ooarai heavies; get to the fore, but refrain from advancing until agreed time," the female voice added.

"Alright, alright. Tsk." Satoko looked at her own watch – courtesy of Vimy Ridge the day before the battle since she never needed to carry any. "Tsuchiya, get us in front of the Cromwells, but don't make a charge until…"clearing her watch of her sleeve she continued, "three minutes later. My guess is commander Gemini will tell us to charge when the time is up."

With twenty seconds to spare, Ooarai's three heavy tanks reached the front line of the pass, where German, American, and British guns fired off round after round of various AP shells and shots, mostly bouncing or missing. Credit to the gunners though, most of the misses were no more than a mere 30 centimeters off target.

Ten seconds. A low ridge in the middle of the rugged pass prevented Sagittarius Academy from spotting the new dangers to their defence. The Tiger P, KV-85, and Renault B1 stood shoulder to the Comets, alive and knocked out.

Five seconds. The heavy tanks crawled forward, intent on taking the hits for their softer-armoured allies, while punishing the enemy with their bigger guns. If they did not penetrate, they certainly left the crews more rattled than a 75mm would have done.

Two seconds. From her cupola, Satoko and Noriko could get their first glimpses at their opponents. There certainly were a lot of guns pointed at Vimy Ridge and Ooarai. At least five "Easy Eights" with their 76mm guns were visible in the pass in various distances, taking cover and shooting from behind the so-called VK3601s who had their armoured angled to make the most of their already heavy armour. They really did look like skinny Tigers, unless you saw their turrets.

One second.

Zero second. The radio crackled into life with Gemini's commander's voice once more. "Danube troop, heavy tanks, charge!"

"Gun the throttle!" Satoko yelled to her fellow mechanic-tankers.

"With willpower and guts; forward!" Noriko also exclaimed to her own team members.

"Let's go!" Sodoko ordered Gomoyo.

In normal circumstances, charging in in such a close range, even in such a heavily armoured beast such as a Tiger would have been suicidal, especially with the two German heavy tank prototypes watching the approach with their deadly 75mm L/70 guns. But the Duck team was not the only team to receive an upgrade.

Since arriving in Vimy Ridge, and a few days before the showmatch offer was revealed by Lucius to Miho, Leopon, the Tiger P, was up-armoured with an extra bolt-on 100mm plate that was used on the Ferdinand tank destroyer. At first Yukari advised from doing so, citing possible rule violations, but a quick call to the Japanese Senshado Association confirmed that the upgrade was safe to do even according to Japanese regulations.

That upgrade was now put to the test. Luckily, while the long 75mm cannons could conceivably penetrate a 100mm armour, the same could not be said for 200mm of steel. Shells bounced off the Leopon as rain bounced off an umbrella, shielding the Cromwells, the Comet, and the other less well armoured heavy tanks by taking their hits for them.

"Hoshino, target one of those VKs to the left, make those shots count!"

"Turn the turret right 15 degrees and shoot that mini-Tiger, Akebi!"

The 8.8cm gun roared. Slightly behind them, the KV-85 also fired its first shot in anger since its rediscovery.

* * *

Lucius snapped his pocket watch closed, placed it into his pocket, and issued his order. "This is Ferrata; Britannia, Africa, Euphrates, and Ooarai, advance and assume battle formations! Danube may advance if possible."

* * *

**AN**: Written during the blackout today in Toronto by candlelight and screenlight. I would rather not post a part 1 and 2, but it's been 2 months since the last update, and the chapter have been getting out of hand in length for me. Hopefully this is enough, and the quality is good enough.


End file.
